


Kindling

by Quokkasandnothingelse



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (not a harry potter au), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, BAFM (Badass Foster Mother) Jyn Erso, Bendemption, Dark Wizard Palpatine, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, I will hold onto an Andor-Erso family until the day I die, Kylo Ren Redemption, M/M, New York City, Redemption, Rey is Not a Palpatine, Slow Burn, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 59,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22190068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quokkasandnothingelse/pseuds/Quokkasandnothingelse
Summary: "You said Snoke was the only one who ever told you the truth," she said, quietly. "But what about me? Haven't I always told you the truth?""I guess," Ben conceeded, cautiously."So, will you believe me when I say I know there's good in you?" she asked."I believe that you believe it," he said, softly.Rey Andor is a young witch who can't wait to be fully accepted into the Organa Coven. But a new coven, the First Order, is gaining power and has given all witches a choice: join them or be burned at the stake. Rey doesn’t know much about the fight against the First Order – until her High Priestess, Leia Organa, asks her to hide Kylo Ren, one of the most feared dark witches in America, with the hope of turning him to their side. Rey's convinced that Kylo Ren can be redeemed. He's not so sure.
Relationships: Cassian Andor & Rey, Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso, Jyn Erso & Rey, Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey & Rose Tico, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 27
Kudos: 67





	1. The Haunted House

**Author's Note:**

> Couple of things to mention:  
> 1\. I have not written fanfiction in **literally years** , so here's hoping I'm not too out of practice!  
> 2\. Updates will hopefully come very week on Saturday and I apologise in advance for when I'm inevitably late with posting.  
> 3\. This is not a Harry Potter AU. I am very much a fan of the 1990s witchy revival happening rn ( _Charmed, Sabrina, The Craft, etc._ ), so this was written to fit in with that sort of vibe.  
> 4\. "Witch" is a gender-neutral term in this story.  
> 5\. I'm British - that's why I spell things like that :)
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!

Rey’s first memory was of Jyn.

She couldn't remember where they were, how they'd got there, or anything else that had been happening. All she remembered was a growing fear clawing its way up her throat from where it had been festering in her stomach and Jyn's pale face looming above her own, glaring fiercely at something directly behind Rey's head. She hadn't turned to see what it was - she hadn't wanted to. Instead, she had focused on Jyn and tried to ignore the surrounding darkness that had caressed her foster mother's cheeks and fluttered her hair. Even years later, Rey could still picture the beads of sweat that had chased each other down Jyn's pointy nose and the way her mouth had pressed into a tight line that barely moved as she muttered a continuous stream of something unintelligible yet desperate.

As Rey had got older, she had realised that Jyn must have been casting some kind of spell and that the situation must therefore have been serious, as Jyn had rarely used word magic - but whenever she had tried asking her about it, Jyn's replies had always been far from helpful. 

She hadn't seen her foster mother for over five years. Yet, whenever she felt fear growing in her belly or sensed darkness looming on the edges of her vision, she would still picture Jyn's face: battled-hardened and ready to face whatever was coming with her.

So, if she hadn’t thought that sneaking into an infamous haunted house in the early hours of a Monday morning just to steal some wolfsbane wasn’t a stupid idea before, the image of Jyn that flashed in her mind, rolling her eyes in exasperation, definitely confirmed it.

“Explain to me again,” she said, struggling to keep up with her best friend’s purposeful walk, her arms folded tightly against her body to keep out the chilly September air. “Why can’t we just get some wolfsbane from Maz?”

“Rey, Rey, Rey,” her friend said, smiling. “Come on, anyone can buy some dried wolfsbane! But how many people can say that they grabbed some stuff fresh from the old Amidala house?”

"Ah! So, this is about you trying to impress Poe! Gotcha!” Rey said, nodding.

“I’m not trying to impress –”

“Finn!” Rey grabbed her friend’s arm, forcing him to stop. “Look, I’m here alright? You got me out of my bed, out of the house, and all the way here – you did it. So please, for god’s sake, drop the act.”

Finn opened his mouth, paused, closed it again and shrugged.

“Alright, good point,” he admitted, an unrepentant grin spreading across his face. “So… wanna hear the good stuff then?” he asked, holding out his arm to her.

“I knew the look on your face when Poe was telling us about the house was gonna cause me trouble,” Rey muttered, but she threaded her arm through his anyway and they continued walking. “Go on then.”

“Right, so the entire neighbourhood _think_ that the house is haunted, but only the coven _knows_ that it’s haunted –”

“Yup, that’s what Poe said,” Rey cut in impatiently. “And they exaggerate the stories in order to keep people away.”

“ _If_ you’ll let me finish,” Finn said, elbowing her slightly. “What Poe didn’t say is who it’s haunted by. So I found him later, worked my magic… metaphorically speaking…”

“I’m sure you did,” Rey snorted.

“… and found out,” Finn continued, slightly louder. “That the ghost is this woman called Padmé Amidala Naberrie. Apparently, she was a witch when the High Council was still a thing – before the Dark Father started fucking shit up. Anyway, she was in love with this guy, but he left her, and she died of heartbreak just after giving birth to his kids.”

“That’s bleak,” Rey observed, significantly more subdued. “What happened to the kids?”

“Poe didn’t know. Or if he did, he wouldn’t say. Probably a top-secret coven thing.”

“Figures,” Rey said. “Okay, the ghost of a woman who died in childbirth… doesn’t sound too threatening.”

“Atta girl!” Finn beamed. “We go in, grab some wolfsbane, maybe snap a selfie or two just to prove it, and get out. Easy, right?”

“For you I guess – but what do I get out of it?”

“Street cred?”

“Uhh excuse me, I have street cred!” Rey objected.

“Excuuuuuuuse me, I have street cred!” Finn mimicked her, in an exaggerated English accent. “Nahh man, you may have run with Jyn Erso but that doesn’t mean you have street cred,” he said, his bright eyes crinkling with amusement. Rey huffed in annoyance but before she could come up with a retort, Finn stopped them abruptly in front of a tall iron gate.

Up to this point, the houses in Naboo had been fairly standard for an affluent New York suburb. Despite the drought they’d had in summer, the lawns were sprawling expanses of lush, green grass – a vibrant contrast to the neutral tones of the walls and matching ornate pillars. The street was far more spacious than any road in New York had a right to be; when every house had a double garage and a long, winding driveway, there was no need to park bumper-to-bumper by the sidewalk.

In some ways, the Amidala house was no different: same architectural style, same ridiculously large windows, same formidable size. But in many ways, it obviously stood out. The long driveway was overrun with weeds and some of the window shutters dangled pathetically by their hinges, creaking mournfully in the breeze. What once had probably been a beautiful paint job on the terrace and porch steps was now a peeling grey mess. Roof tiles dotted the lawn like miniature tombstones, having been dislodged by animals or bad weather. For the final ominous touch, there was a padlock on the gate and a sign that read **KEEP OUT – PRIVATE PROPERTY** in aggressive red capitals.

It looked so derelict that Rey was surprised the neighbours hadn’t petitioned for the place to be demolished out of fear that it would bring their house prices down or draw “questionable” characters to the area… characters like Finn and Rey, probably. But the power of the Organa Coven wasn’t just in their magic – it was in their money. They owned the house and were unreceptive to any bribes or threats that disgruntled residents aimed at them. It also didn’t hurt that their High Priestess was a senator in the New York State Senate.

But it wasn’t just the house’s appearance that was unpleasant. Even standing outside the gate, Rey felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and the weight of an overwhelming sadness press down on her chest. It was as if she were looking at something unnatural, something that neither her eyes nor brain could fully comprehend. Once again, Jyn’s face appeared in front of her. _You should not be here_. The house said, using Jyn’s mouth. _Nothing good will come of you being here_.

She turned to Finn.

“Are you sure nothing else happened in this house?” she asked. They were about the same height, though Finn’s confidence and carefree nature usually made him seem much taller. Right now however, this was not the case; his normally cocky grin was more of a grimace and his rich black skin had taken on a distinctly ashy tone.

“Absolutely,” he said, unconvincingly. “The coven probably cast some sort of repelling spell to keep ghost hunters out. Not like that padlock is going to do much.” He shook his head slightly and took a few deep breaths. “Alright,” he said, pointing to the lock. “Do you mind? Seeing as you have street cred and all that?”

Rey made a face but, against her better judgement, waggled her fingers at the lock. They heard the soft grind of the mechanisms moving inside, before the lock clicked open and clunked to the floor, its chain slithering after it. Rey raised her hands and made a pushing motion. The gates swung smoothly open and a rush of old air hit them in the face.

“Alright, now we’re in business,” Finn said, holding his hand out to her. “Good job, Peanut.” Rey took his hand and allowed him to pull her forwards. She wasn't going to waste time pretending that she wasn’t going in there with him, even to prove a point – they’d gone through worse together.

Hand in hand, they walked up the path. The pressure in Rey’s chest had lifted, indicating that Finn was probably right about the coven casting a spell at the gate, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling of unease – even as Finn swung their hands jovially in what she suspected was his way of trying to lighten the mood.

At the door, Rey repeated the pushing motion and it opened, creaking noisily in protest. The full moon and soft glow of the street lights had lit the outside fairly well, but now only made the inside of the house seem darker and more ominous by comparison. As one, they stepped over the threshold and held their breath. After a few seconds passed and no woman in a white dress with a red stain over her swollen belly flew screaming down the stairs to meet them, they relaxed.

“Can you see anything?” Rey asked. She heard Finn snap his fingers, and a small flame bloomed between his thumb and forefinger.

“Can now,” he said, the confidence returning to his smile.

“Just don’t touch anything. This house would probably go up in seconds,” Rey warned.

“Alright Mom,” Finn said. “Come on – let’s take a look around.”

They avoided the staircase and crept through the ground floor. The rooms had been cleared out long ago, and any furniture that remained was covered by dust-laden white sheets. The light from Finn’s flame danced over them, casting long shadows, and creating movement and shapes where there were none. Each room they walked through contained more of the same: dark walls and white sheets, and, while undoubtedly creepy, Rey began to find the predictability reassuring. Finally, they opened a door to a room that looked like it used to be a kitchen. Parts of the ceiling had fallen in, allowing the moonlight to stream through and illuminate the cracked tiles and mouldy counter tops. Plants had crawled over the dilapidated walls and intertwined themselves with the remains of the rusty plumbing. In the middle of the floor, exactly where a single, concentrated ray of moonlight fell, was a plant covered in purple flowers that bowed forward slightly, like monks in prayer.

“Gotcha!” Finn whispered triumphantly, snuffing out his flame and bounding into the room. “Come on Rey, help me bag this!”

Rey stepped forward to join him, relieved that their mission would be over so soon.

“ _Stardust_.”

She froze. Only one person had ever called her that. But there was no way they could be here. She shook her head. She was creeping around a haunted house in the middle of the night, no wonder her senses were playing tricks on her.

“ _Stardust_.” She whirled around. The room behind her was oppressively dark without Finn’s light, the only item visible was a large sheet, illuminated by the little moonlight that had filtered in through the open door, covering something tall and rectangular. She turned back to Finn, who was busy digging up the purple flowers, crowing about how cool Poe was gonna find it.

“ _Stardust_.” With a heavy heart and heavier feet, Rey stepped towards the sheet. The tightness was back in her chest, squeezing the air from her lungs, her heart pounding in protest. Unwilling to touch the fabric itself, she waved her hand over it. The sheet followed her direction and slowly glided to the floor, sending a light cloud of dust into the air.

It took a few terror-laced moments for Rey to realise that she was not staring at a distraught ghost but her own anxious reflection. It was a mirror.

Rey and Jyn had talked through mirrors a lot in the past, particularly if Jyn had gone out and left Rey alone. The communication had generally been one way, with Jyn expressly forbidding Rey from initiating a discussion, insisting that she wait for her call instead. Of course, Rey had ignored that rule once Jyn had gone missing, but after a few attempts, it had become clear that either scrying through a mirror was a lot more complicated than Rey had thought or Jyn did not want to be found. She had stopped trying a couple of years ago – but something in her felt that the mirror was inviting her to try again now.

Not sure why she was doing so, Rey obeyed. She knelt in front of the mirror, stared into her own reflection, and placed her hand on the glass.

“Jyn Erso,” she said. The power rushed through her fingertips and she pulled it back a little, careful not to put out so much so quickly that the glass broke. For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then, just as she was about to give up, her reflection began to change. Her features softened, her cheek bones smoothed into her face and her chin rounded. Her hair grew down her forehead as messy bangs, her shoulders broadened, and she shrunk in height. Her brown eyes lightened to green, while the tan she had built up from the long summer days spent outside paled. Eventually, she wasn’t looking at herself anymore.

“Jyn,” she whispered. She forgot about the heavy weight in her chest, forgot they were in a haunted house, forgot that Finn was in the next room. She’d dreamt of the day she would see her foster mother again and now, suddenly, here she was: older, tired, more haggard, but definitely her.

Jyn stared back at her, startled.

“Rey?” she asked, incredulously. “What are you doing?” Her voice sounded so ordinary, as if the past five years hadn’t happened, and Rey felt the uncomfortable sting of tears pricking her eyes.

“I heard you calling for me,” she choked out. “Where are you?”

“I didn’t call you,” Jyn said, her surprise swiftly being replaced by panic. “You need to stop this!”

“What?” Rey blinked. “No, you said you’d come back for me, why didn’t you come back for me?” But Jyn wasn’t listening.

“I told you not to scry for me!” she said. “It’s dangerous, _goddammit_!”

“Dangerous? Wha-”

“You need to break the connection! Break it now, Rey!”

“I… I don’t…”

“BREAK IT!” Jyn yelled. On the rare occasions that Jyn had yelled at her as a child, Rey had always obeyed. But she hadn’t seen her foster mother – the only mother she had ever known – in five years, and the weight of unanswered questions as well as the renewed ache of her loss was enough to make her hesitate. In frustration, Jyn pounded on the glass with her fist. Rey jerked her hand away from the mirror in surprise and the glass shattered instantly, plunging the room back into darkness.

“Rey? Rey!” she heard footsteps and suddenly Finn’s face loomed into view, the flame he held between his fingers wafting dangerously close to her hair as he peered at her. “Are you okay?!”

“I saw her! I saw Jyn!” was all Rey could reply.

“Jyn? Like Jyn Erso Jyn?” Finn demanded. “What do you mean?”

“I –” A hand emerged from the shadows and closed firmly around her shoulder. Both she and Finn yelled in shock - before they heard a familiar, yet entirely unimpressed, voice.

“What in god’s name are you two doing here?” Leia Organa demanded.


	2. The Three Confirmants

Leia Organa was known throughout the New York State Senate as being a no-nonsense and practical yet empathetic senator. She’d won every single election she’d ever run in, and not even her strongest opponents had come close to beating her. The New York Times had once printed an op-ed about her, commenting on the “magical” way she “spellbound” her voters. Leia, who knew more about magic than most, knew that magic had nothing to do with it, and that it was all down to good, old-fashioned fairness and the ability to care about people other than herself. But it had still given her a good chuckle.

As a person, Leia seemed to exist to defy expectations. She was small, but that hadn’t stopped her from making an opponent cry during a televised debate. She wore designer suits and elaborate hairstyles, but she had still waded through flood water without a second thought when the city was recovering from Hurricane JJ. She was one of the most respected politicians in America, but she was also one of the best High Priestesses of her generation.

Rey had nothing but respect for Leia, and the last thing she ever wanted to do was to upset her. Somehow though, as she sat on the termite-infested wooden porch next to Finn, her disappointment felt a lot worse.

“I know that this may surprise you, but I have better things to be doing than hauling my own coven confirmants out of haunted houses!” Leia said, standing over them. “So, what exactly were you doing?” Finn rummaged in his bag and pulled out a handful of purple flowers.

“Wolfsbane,” he said. Leia raised an eyebrow.

“I can see that. But why do you want wolfsbane from this house?”

Rey and Finn looked at each other but said nothing. There was a long-standing rumour within the coven that Leia could read minds. As the High Priestess, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility, but she had never confirmed nor denied it. However, in that moment, she seemed to know exactly what they were thinking.

“Oy vey,” she muttered. “Look, we don’t usually let confirmants in on coven secrets… but seeing as you two are determined to root them out anyway, I’ll tell you.” She gestured for them to make space, and Rey and Finn shuffled to the sides to let her sit down between them on the step, sparing not one thought for her designer suit. She took Rey’s hand with one hand and placed the other on Finn’s knee. “The Organa Coven protects this house because Padmé Amidala is my mother.” The frankness of it took Rey and Finn aback, but Leia either didn’t notice their reactions or ignored them. “I was born in this house… both me and Luke were. Even though I don’t remember it – or my mother – it’s still special to me. And my mother…” she paused. “Well. One day we’ll help her move on. But until then, we guard this house. We put spells around it to keep people away – which is also how we knew that you had got in, by the way.” Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Finn looked over Leia's head to mouth _I told you so_ at Rey. She shot him a glare in response. 

“We’re really sorry,” she said to Leia. “We didn’t know it was so important.”

“Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t have taken the wolfsbane if I’d known,” Finn agreed. Leia smiled and gave them both a light squeeze.

“I know,” she said. “But the next time you come across something under the coven’s protection, maybe consider that there’s a good reason for it?” She heaved herself to her feet. “Holdo will drive you home. And please advise Mr Dameron that the next time he wants to impress you, he spills his restaurant recommendations instead of coven secrets?” Finn blushed all the way to his line-up and nodded. Amilyn Holdo, Leia’s pink-haired Chief of Staff beckoned to the pair of them, as Leia turned and began to walk towards the front door.

“Uhh Leia,” Rey scrambled up after her. “I really did see Jyn in that mirror.”

“Rey,” Leia said, looking sympathetic. “This house is steeped in sadness. If you saw something, it’s probably because it’s magnifying your own pain.”

“No, it wasn’t like that. I scryed for her. I think… I think she’s in trouble.” Rey bit her lip. Leia gently but firmly took her arm.

“What do we call a witch without a coven?” she asked quietly. It was less of a question than a motto, and there wasn’t a witch who didn’t know the answer to it.

“Kindling,” Rey reluctantly replied. Leia nodded.

“Listen, I’ll put some feelers out, see what I can find out,” she said. “But Jyn is outside the coven. There’s not much we can do except be here if or when she reaches out.”

“I understand,” Rey said. _I don’t like it but I understand_. Leia smiled reassuringly, before letting go of her arm and heading back into the house. Rey walked down the path towards the sole car parked outside the gate and got in the back next to Finn.

“What am I gonna do with all these?” he asked, looking mournfully at his bag of wolfsbane. Rey didn’t respond, resting her head against the window and closing her eyes as Holdo started the engine. She hadn’t asked Leia why she had been up and fully dressed at this time of night. She figured that Leia wouldn’t have told her anyway.

**xXx**

Number 7 Crait Street stood a whole floor higher than its adjoining buildings. The first three apartments were occupied by standard dual-income-two-kids families, but the apartment on the top floor – a floor that the other residents probably didn’t even realise was there – was owned by the Organa Coven.

Confirmants were witches that were affiliated with a coven but had yet to be confirmed as full members or “congregants”. As confirmants technically existed on the fringes of a coven, they were often vulnerable and prone to either being stolen or even killed by other witches. To try and prevent this, most covens had at least one confirmant safe house, and that’s exactly what apartment 4, number 7 Crait Street was. Its location was on a strict need-to-know basis, and anyone who did know was magically bound to never reveal its location in any way. If they tried, they would die instantly.

Only three confirmants lived there now: Rey Andor, Finn Storm and Rose Tico, the latter of whom was standing waiting in the hallway when Finn and Rey returned.

“I can’t believe,” she said, the second they opened the door, looking extremely annoyed, even in her fluffy dressing gown. “That you two snuck off without me!”

“Sorry Rose,” Finn said, meekly. “It’s just you have that early morning yoga class and we figured you would want the rest –”

“Oh yes, because waking up in the night to find both of you gone _is so restful_ ,” she snapped. As a rule, Rose was as warm natured as she looked. The shortest of the three of them, she had earnest eyes, rosy cheeks, and the only harsh line about her were the blunt bangs that cut across her forehead. But both Finn and Rey had played Mario Kart with her too many times to take her warm nature for granted.

“I need to put these in water,” Finn mumbled, shuffling past Rose into the kitchen, holding his bag of wolfsbane in front of him like a shield. Rose glared at him as he passed and turned her attention on Rey – but the second she did, her eyes widened in shock.

“Oh!” she said, rushing towards Rey and enveloping her in a hug. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Rey said automatically, knowing full well that Rose wouldn’t accept her answer: empaths knew better. “I saw Jyn. I scryed for her in a mirror and I saw her.”

Rose bit her lip. “I see,” she said. “Come on, tell me everything. It’s not like I’m gonna be able to sleep before you update me anyway.”

**xXx**

When Rey woke up the next morning, the bed opposite hers was empty; Rose had already left for her yoga class. The apartment had three bedrooms, meaning that each of them technically had their own room. But Rey had spent enough of her life alone, and since each bedroom contained two single beds, she often curled up in Rose or Finn’s room to sleep. If they minded, they never said.

She lay flat on her back, staring at the white ceiling lit by the soft mid-morning light and trying not to think about Jyn’s face in the mirror. When that didn’t work, she swung a leg over the side of her bed, shivering a little as her bare feet touched the cold wooden floorboards. The only sources of heat were the single, small iron radiators in the corner of each room - but luckily being on the top floor meant that they got the accumulated heat from the floors beneath them throughout the day. The morning was the only time when the apartment would be particularly cold, and in the winter, they would gather up their clothes and shuffle to the bathroom in their duvets, waiting for the hot water from the shower to steam the room out before stripping down and hopping in as quickly as they could. 

The September chill of that morning signalled that summer was definitely over but wasn't too uncomfortable and Rey was in no rush. She pulled on socks, grabbed a hoodie from Rose's chair - though she recognised it as one of Finn's - and padded into the hallway. 

The apartment was long and thin, all the rooms connected by a single corridor that ran from the small kitchen at the back to the living room at the front. It had been decorated for function rather than style: white walls and tanned floorboards that matched the wood of the counter tops. However, even with its bland base, it was more than three orphans in New York had any right to live in, especially paying the rent they did; being in a coven didn't just protect them from supernatural threats.

Rey knew the day was approaching where they would join the coven fully. As much as all three of them were looking forward to that day, none of them particularly liked thinking about the fact that it would mean leaving the apartment. It bore marks of all three of them: Rose’s positivity posters that clung optimistically to the walls, Finn’s novelty rubber duck collection that had almost taken over the bathroom, Rey’s boots that were strewn haphazardly along the hallway floor. For the three Organa confirmants, the safehouse was their home.

Rey kicked a wayward boot out of the way as she headed into the kitchen. Two coffee cups had been abandoned on the table, one still half full. Rey rolled her eyes, gently levitating them into the sink with a wave; Finn never woke up in time to finish his coffee, even when he hadn’t been running around haunted houses the night before. She raised her hand to summon her own cup and then stopped.

Slowly, she lowered her hand.

Staring at the cup on the shelf, she imagined an invisible hand reaching out from her mind to pick it up. The cup began to tremble slightly as it rose into the air, hovering a couple of centimetres off the shelf. She felt a trickle of sweat run down her face and dug her fingernails into her palms as she began to pull the cup towards her…

Suddenly, the cup lurched forward. Rey ducked and the cup soared over her head, before smashing against the wall.

“For fuck’s sake!” she cursed, straightening up and going to inspect the damage. Luckily, there was no dent. Frustrated, she gestured the pieces into the bin and got a new cup from the shelf without telekinesis. She supposed she should’ve known better; she struggled to channel her power through her eyes at the best of times – trying with her head full of Jyn was optimistic at best, idiotic at worst.

 _Later_ , she soothed herself. _It_ was _Jyn, she knew it was – but she couldn’t do anything about that now and if she kept thinking about it, she’d end up propelling herself out of the door to go look for her, directionless and alone… and that would help no one_.

“Kindling,” she muttered to herself. “Kindling, kindling, kindling.”

**xXx**

Clearing her mind of Jyn didn't get any easier as the day progressed, and by the afternoon it felt like a constant battle. Normally, her apprenticeship at the Takodana automobile repair shop was sufficiently busy to keep her mind occupied, but today was uncharacteristically quiet. Rey ran double checks on car engines she knew were flawless, her mood darkening from the mental load of it all.

Rose had been as sceptical as everyone else. Rey had seen it in her eyes, even though she had approached it extremely gently.

“I know how much you must miss her,” she had said. “But from the sounds of it, there was a lot of sadness in that house. And I know better than most people how powerful strong emotions can be.”

“It was her!” Rey had insisted. “It would be easier if it had been an illusion or something.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because if it was her, then I think she’s in trouble. And I can’t help her…” Rey had broken off, a lump forming in her throat. Rose had placed a reassuring hand on Rey’s shoulder, her own eyes filling with Rey's unspilled tears.

“Then let’s trust that Leia’s right,” she had said.

Rey threw her spanner to the floor, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to wrestle Jyn’s panicked face out of her mind. It was no good, the more she thought about it, the stronger the image became and the worse the panic got. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, her breathing was too quick, and her hands were trembling.

“Tea?” Rey jumped and opened her eyes. There was a mild _clunk_ as everything that had started gently to rise into the air around her dropped abruptly to the floor.

“S..sorry?” she asked. Her boss, Maz Kanata, held out a mug towards her.

“Tea,” she repeated. “Drink it, girl.” Slowly, Rey accepted the cup and took a long sip. She wasn’t sure what kind of tea it was but it seemed to help, the tightness unwinding in her chest, her breathing slowing. Maz cleared a space on the workbench next to her and hopped up onto it, her eyes watching Rey intently from behind oversized welding goggles.

No one seemed to know much about Maz – she had joined the Organa Coven decades ago, having been sponsored by Han Solo, Leia’s ex-husband, and that was all anyone could really say. No one was even really sure how old she was, though Rey was fairly sure she looked older than she actually was, as despite the uniform wrinkles that creased her skin, her mind was sharp and her long fingers were easily able to manipulate even the fiddliest and most awkward parts.

Takodana was one of the best repair shops in the state, and Rey knew she should never take for granted that she had been given the opportunity to apprentice under Maz or that she had expressed her willingness to sponsor Rey’s entry into the coven.

“I’m really sorry,” she apologised. “I’m just a bit distracted today.” She waited for Maz to lecture her. Her shop drew mechanics and customers from all around the country, and most of them didn’t even know that magic existed, let alone that their boss was part of a coven headed by a senator. Things randomly starting to float would definitely lead to some questions. But instead, Maz patted the bench next to her. Surprised, Rey sat down and Maz took her hand. Despite years of working with machines, Maz’s papery skin was surprisingly soft.

“Dear child,” she said, in a voice much gentler than Rey was used to. “I see your eyes – you already know the truth. Whomever you are waiting for, they’re never coming back.” She wasn’t being unkind, but her bluntness still stung Rey and she felt tears spilling down her cheeks. “But,” Maz continued. “There is someone who still could.”

“Who?” Rey asked, but Maz didn’t seem to hear her. Her eyes had glazed over, as if she wasn't seeing Rey at all but seeing _through_ her.

“The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead. I am no Jedi witch, but I know power. It moves through and surrounds every living thing,” she closed her eyes. “Close your eyes, feel it.”

“Feel what?”

“The light. It’s always been there. It will guide you.” Maz opened her eyes again looking satisfied. “Finish your tea. You’ll be okay,” she said, patting Rey’s knee and getting back up. Unsure of what else to say, Rey took another sip. “And control your telekinesis before you drop a car on someone’s head!”


	3. The Pizza-Induced Plan

Poe Dameron was often heard before he was seen, his voice permeating every room, regardless of closed doors or physical walls. However, when Rey finally stumbled through the door that Friday evening, she knew Poe was there by his massive ginger Maine Coone, BB-8, who trotted down the hallway to greet her. Officially, his name was Bertram Baudelaire the Eighth, as Poe had had several cats for varying periods of time and given each of them the same name - but "BB-8" was much easier to say. Rey bent down to scratch the cat's ears before kicking off her shoes and heading down the hallway, the miniature tiger padding behind her, purring loudly. 

She found Poe and her two flatmates watching TV in the living room. He was lounging on the floor, his elbows propped up on a pillow, not caring about wrinkling what must be an expensive suit. As Executive Assistant to Senator Organa, Poe was expected to dress smartly – and because it was Leia, he did. However, he didn't particularly enjoy it and had already discarded his tie and suit jacket, unbuttoned his top two buttons and rolled his sleeves up to his elbow. Even his dark hair, which had probably started the day firmly gelled down to his head was beginning to spring up into rebellious curls, and he’d developed his five o’clock shadow a couple of hours earlier. Rey had never known anyone to be so naturally roguish – and judging from the glances Finn kept throwing him, neither had he.

“Urgh, look at this asshole,” Poe was saying, gesturing to the screen. “I can’t believe they still ask him what he thinks, knowing the politics he has.” Rey looked at the man being interviewed and had to agree. Senator Andrew Snoke was the embodiment of a mean old man. His massive bald head looked too large to be supported by his narrow neck. His face was lopsided, with the skin on one side stretched thin in some parts and drooping in others. He claimed his appearance was the result of a firebomb attack when he had been serving in the military, but that had never been conclusively proved. He was no match for Leia in competency or popularity, but his questionable opinions and habit of interrupting other people while waggling his finger at them seemed to have made him the uniting figurehead for anyone who disliked her... both in the political and the magical world. 

Snoke was also a witch and head of a growing coven known as the First Order, which was becoming an increasingly ominous topic on the lips of most witches… though naturally, the majority of voters knew nothing about this. In fact, it probably wouldn’t have occurred to the public to consider that Snoke was even remotely involved with anything magical, as every speech he made had references to “witch hunts” and “trials by fire”. Once, after a particularly memorable speech where Snoke had said Leia was “building a pyre out of her own broomsticks… metaphorically speaking of course,” Rey had asked Holdo why he spoke about burning so much even though he was a witch himself. Holdo had grinned darkly.

“It’s so when he starts calling for Leia to be burned at the stake, the public are desensitised to it,” she had replied. Ever since, it had been hard for Rey not to be aware of Snoke - even when he wasn’t on TV, he was always there, lurking on the periphery of her mind.

“Rey!” Rose exclaimed suddenly, catching sight of her in the doorway and springing to her feet to wrap her in a hug. “How are you? You feel like you're better.”

“Yeah,” Rey shrugged. “Just happy it’s Friday I guess.” She let Rose pull her down onto the sofa next to her, BB leaping onto her lap immediately, turning a few times before settling down to sleep. Rey stroked him absentmindedly.

“Hey, that house has seen some shit,” Poe said to her. “Sorry it affected you like that.”

“It’s okay,” she shrugged again, too tired to argue for what felt like the billionth time that Jyn had been real. Rose must have felt her depleted mood, as she grabbed the remote and muted Snoke’s dry, raspy voice.

“We were just thinking of grabbing pizza and beer!” she said, brightly. “You want in?”

“Sure!” Rey agreed, thankful for the change in topic. “On the condition that pineapple is not involved!” she looked pointedly at Finn.

“There is nothing wrong with pineapple on pizza!” he protested, vehemently.

“Give it up Finn!" Poe chimed in, giving his knee a comforting squeeze. "The Italians disagree with you - and they should know cos they invented pizza." 

“Come on man, pizza stopped belonging to Italians the second we started mass producing it in factories,” Finn retorted, though he didn’t make any move to remove Poe’s hand.

“On behalf of all Italians, I am offended.”

“On behalf – you’re Guatemalan! What do you mean, _on behalf of all Italians_?”

“As fascinating as this conversation is,” Rey cut in, loudly. “Can you guys continue it while you go and pick up the pizza? I’ll have pepperoni!”

“Ooh, veggie for me please!” Rose chimed in.

“Wait a minute! When did we decide that we’re the ones going?” Finn demanded.

“Well, Poe definitely needs to go because he needs to get us a fifty per cent discount,” Rose said, promptly. “I would go, but I overstretched my leg in one of my yoga classes today.”

“And I have a cat on me,” Rey said, gesturing to BB, who conveniently chose that moment to snuggle further into her lap. The two men looked at each other, then at Rey and Rose, who stared back innocently.

“Fine! Fine!” Poe groaned, using his grip on Finn’s knee to push himself to his feet. “We’ll go. As long as you’re sure that you don’t want to?” He smiled at them, the words dripping from his lips like honey, sounding better to Rey’s ears than her favourite song ever could. She felt the muscles in her legs tense as she readied herself to stand, the words “sure we’ll go” already beginning to form on her tongue…

“Save it for the pizza shop,” she said instead, yanking Rose back down into her seat from where she had half-risen next to her. “Remember the stuffed crust!”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re going,” Finn said, clapping Poe on the shoulder and steering him out of the room. “Thanks for trying though, man!”

“It was worth a shot!” Poe replied, grinning unrepentantly. Rose waited until they heard the front door shut firmly behind them before turning to Rey.

“Are you _sure_ you’re okay?” she demanded. “You’ve been avoiding us all week… and before you answer, I want to remind you that I know you’re not.”

“Then why ask?” Rey asked, not ungrumpily, as she scratched BB behind the ears, wincing slightly when he kneaded his claws into her thigh.

“Because we’re friends and I would hope that you know you can talk to me,” Rose said.

“Where did you get that idea?” Rey teased. Rose gave her A Look. “Alright! No, not really,” she admitted. “I can’t stop thinking about Jyn.”

“You still think it was real?”

“I _know_ it was real,” Rey corrected her. “And the worst part…” she trailed off, unsure how to untangle her muddled thoughts into coherent sentences. Rose waited patiently. “Maz said something to me on Monday. She said that whoever I was waiting for, they’re not coming back. I think she meant Jyn.” Rose’s eyes widened.

“Do you think it was a prophecy?” she asked in hushed tones. “Paige said that Maz hasn’t used her prophecy power since Ben Solo went missing five years ago.”

“I don’t know,” Rey said. “I didn’t ask her about Jyn or anything. I didn’t even mention the house – though I probably didn’t have to, knowing this coven. She just sorta said it, randomly.”

“Whoa. Did she say anything else?”

“That even though Jyn isn’t coming back – someone else could? But I don’t know who that could be? And then something about the light?” Rey shook her head. “I don’t really understand it, to be honest.”

“Well of course not!” Rose said. “Usually the whole Inner Circle is needed to interpret Maz’ prophecies! Even then they sometimes get it wrong! One time, they thought a meteor was going to fall to Earth and crush a guy – turns out it was just a coconut. Dude still ended up in a coma though…”

“But the first part seems clear, right?” Rey pressed. “I mean, I’ve been waiting for Jyn ever since she left. And then the mirror…” BB yelped suddenly, as her fingers accidentally caught on a knot in his fur. Rose put her hand over Rey’s.

“Maybe,” she said, soothingly. “Maybe not. Prophecy isn’t straightforward – and I’m not a seer.” _No_ , Rey thought, as she felt reassurance flow from Rose’s hand and into her own, enveloping through her body, as if she were sinking into a warm bath. _But you’re a damn good empath_. “Maybe you should talk to Leia about it?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Rey nodded. “Would you mind not sharing this until I have?”

“My lips are sealed,” Rose smiled, before getting off the sofa and heading out into the hallway. When she returned, she had a bottle of beer in each hand. “Fancy hearing some coven gossip to take your mind off things?” she asked. “I had lunch with Paige today.”

Despite herself, Rey grinned: Paige was Rose’s elder sister who had been confirmed into the coven about nine months ago. Technically, congregants weren’t supposed to share unapproved information with the confirmants, but what was a secret between sisters? Or, as in Poe and Finn’s case, where shameless flirting was concerned.

“Sure,” she said, reaching for a bottle. “Tell me.”

**xXx**

“Urgh, why did you let me eat that last slice of pizza?” Rose groaned from the floor. Lying next to her, Rey managed a weak giggle. She, Rose, Poe and Finn were sprawled out in various positions in the living room, utterly defeated by pizza and beer. Even BB-8 was flat out on his back, though he hadn’t touched any pizza and was just taking advantage of Poe’s immobility to sleep on his head.

“It's not our fault you kept eating - you said you were full six slices ago!” Finn argued from where he was lying on the couch.

“Because I was feeling you guys’ hunger, and apparently you’re all trash cans!” Rose retorted, flapping her arms, weakly. Poe mumbled something indiscernible in response, his voice muffled by BB-8's fur. 

Rey stretched.

“I definitely have a food baby,” she said, contentedly rubbing her belly.

“Name it after me,” Finn said, allowing one of his hands to fall from the sofa in an attempt to pat her stomach. Rey groaned in protest and rolled onto her side away from him, bumping into Rose, who also groaned but did nothing else. The room was warm and comfortable, filled only by the soft, soothing sound of everyone breathing, BB-8’s rhythmic purring, and the occasional stomach gurgle. Rey felt her eyelids drooping and didn’t particularly try to fight it, the lazy atmosphere wrapping around her as comfortably as any thick blanket. Just when she had fully embraced the idea of falling asleep on the floor, Finn spoke:

“I’ve been thinking…”

“Always dangerous,” Poe muttered.

“…why is it so strange for Rey to have talked to Jyn?” Rey’s eyes snapped open as Finn’s words ripped easily through the threads of her metaphorical blanket.

“What are you talking about?” Rose asked, hauling herself into a seated position. 

"Well, I was thinking. I mean, our powers are only growing - why shouldn't she be able to contact Jyn now?" 

"Because scrying takes practice," Poe said, also sitting up and dislodging BB-8, who shook himself indignantly before leaving the room in search of a more accommodating seat. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure you're a quick study," he said to Rey. "But it's not enough just to shoot power into a mirror and hope for the best." 

"I dunno the specifics," Finn shrugged. "I'm just saying I don't see why it should be so crazy." Mentally waving goodbye to any possibility of sleep, Rey sighed and sat up too. 

"Jyn's gift is that she can find anything," she said. "But if she doesn't want to be found, she won't be." 

"So... maybe she wants to be found now?" Finn suggested. 

"I don't think so," Rey shook her head. "She told me to break the connection and then shattered the glass." 

"From the other side of the mirror?" Poe asked, sounding impressed. "Dude..."

"Well, maybe you caught her off-guard or something?" Finn said, apparently not noticing Rey flinch. Jyn was never off-guard. "We could try again?" 

"Why would we?" Rey demanded, exasperatedly. "She doesn't want to be found!" 

"Breaking that mirror would've taken a lot of her energy," Poe said, considering. "If there ever was a time to try again, it would be before she's able to cloak herself fully again." 

"But what happened to not having enough practice?" Rey asked, frustrated at the lack of control she had in this conversation about her. Finn thought for a minute. 

"Poe's scryed before - he can guide you through it. Right?" 

"Ahh -" Poe began, uncertainly but Rey interrupted him before he could get further. 

"I don't even know if _I_ have the power to do it again," she said. "Maybe the last time was complete luck." 

"We'll help you!" Finn said, promptly. "We can do a power transference." 

"We'll do a _what_?" Rose demanded, looking thunderstruck. "None of us - well, I don't know about Poe but definitely not us three - have done that before! We don't have the training -"

"Yeah man, I'm not sure," Poe agreed, uncharacteristically uneasy at Finn's suggestion. "You usually need permission from the Inner Circle before you do this sort of magic..." Finn huffed. 

"Look," he said, swinging his legs off the sofa and looking at them earnestly. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. We don't see Jyn, the coven doesn't need to know. But if it _does_ work, maybe we can find out where Jyn is... and if she's in trouble, maybe we can help her... or at least tell Leia and _she_ can help her." He turned to Rey, dark brown eyes staring into lighter ones. "What have you got to lose?" he asked, softly. 

Rey bit her lip and looked around her friends. Finn was obviously willing. While Poe had been hesitant at first, he also seemed happy to be reasoned out of his objections. Rose looked less sure but wasn't about to object. 

It was her call. 

Jyn's face flashed in her mind, a warning that this was probably not the best idea. Maybe the warning would've worked had it not been for the memory of Jyn's panicked reflection staring at her in the mirror. Or for Finn's unquestionable support and willingness to help her. Or for the the fact that she knew she would probably end up trying again sooner or later, so she may as well try surrounded by friends. 

“Okay,” she agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've been taking my sweet time introducing Kylo Ren, but don't worry - he's coming next chapter :)


	4. The Hand in the Mirror

“Are all the candles necessary?” Rey asked, unable to keep the scepticism from her voice.

“Oh I’m sorry, would you like to share how _you_ did this last time?” Poe demanded, placing the final candle on the floor and straightening up, hands on his hips. Rey huffed.

“Just seems like an unnecessary fire hazard is all,” she muttered.

“Lucky one of us is a firefighter trainee then,” Finn said, going around and lighting each wick with his fingers.

“I feel so reassured.” After a short yet lively discussion, Rose's ornate vanity mirror had been hauled from her room and propped against the sofa. Around it, they had arranged all the candles they owned in a semi-circle large enough to contain the four of them. As Finn lit them, the various scents wafted into the air, blending with the lingering cheesy smell of the pizza in a way that was sickeningly unbearable. "Why do we even have so many candles?" Rey snapped. 

"I may have gone overboard at _Bed, Bath and Beyond_ last Black Friday," Rose said, apologetically. She rubbed Rey's arm reassuringly, and Rey felt a familiar warm glow begin to spread through her. She resisted it. 

"Great," she mumbled. 

"Rey," Poe placed both his hands on her shoulders. "Look at me." Rey rolled her eyes, half-tempted to use her telekinesis to push him over and escape while she had the chance... but she obeyed. "It's going to be fine," Poe said, his words fluttering over her like a pleasant breeze. “We’re all here with you, don’t worry.” Begrudgingly, Rey allowed his words and the warmth from Rose’s hands to flow through her, gently soothing her concerns. She took a few steadying breaths.

"Okay," she said. "I'm okay." 

“Atta girl!” Poe said, clapping her on the shoulder, while Rose squeezed her arm. Rey smiled in spite of herself.

“Okay, done!” Finn declared. “Rey?” He held his hand out towards her. She took it and allowed him to bring her into the semi-circle, Rose and Poe stepping in after.

“So, what now?” Rose asked.

“Well, we should all kneel. Rey needs to be the one looking into the mirror,” Poe said, manoeuvring them into position. “We need to be behind her doing the power transference. Since there’s three of us, we’ll focus on the three life areas: heart...” she felt Poe place one of Finn’s hands on the centre of her back, just to the left of her spine. “... lungs...” Rose’s two hands landed just below Finn’s. “... and mind.” Finally, she felt Poe’s hand on the back of her head, his fingers spreading out to encompass the entirety of her skull. “Don’t get distracted by anything that appears in the mirror… close your eyes if you have to. Just keep focusing on keeping the power going to your respective areas… keep it steady, no sudden bursts! All Rey has to focus on is reaching through the mirror.”

"Is that all?" Rey muttered. She was ignored. 

“This is safe right?” Rose asked, hesitantly.

“Just stay focused and don’t get distracted,” Poe replied, which didn’t sound too reassuring to Rey. She felt Finn pushing against her back slightly.

“Don’t worry Peanut,” he said. “I got you.”

“We all got you,” Poe said, confidently. “Whenever you’re ready, Rey.”

Rey nodded and took a deep breath, looking into the mirror and focusing on her own face. She placed a slightly sweaty palm on the glass.

“Jyn Erso,” she said. The power that shot out of her hands surprised her at first, and she nearly blasted the mirror away from her. But she reigned it in, adjusting for the extra boost her friends were channelling through her, and concentrated on pushing it through the thin layer of glass and into the unknown. A tense silence reigned.

Her reflection began to move.

Rey’s heart leapt into her throat and she eagerly waited for Jyn’s face to emerge from her own… but it wasn’t just her reflection that was moving; the whole glass was beginning to ripple, as if it wasn’t a mirror at all but the surface of a lake and someone had just dropped a pebble directly in the middle of it.

“Is this… how it’s meant to happen?” Finn whispered. Poe shushed him but Rey could see from his reflection that he looked just as doubtful. A noise began to fill the room, quiet at first but growing louder. A crashing, repetitive noise, like that of waves smashing heavily against rock and breaking apart, only to recuperate and try again with a similar vigour. Rey leaned in closer; the noise seemed to be coming from _within_ the glass.

A darkness began to collect in the centre of the mirror, surfing the ripples to the edges of the frame until any reflection was obliterated, replaced by a solid wall of dark mass. 

Rey didn’t move – couldn’t move. She wanted to pull her hand away, but it didn’t even feel like she was touching cool glass anymore. It was soft, warm…

… and moving.

Long fingers shot out of the mirror, curling around her own and clasping her hand with the fierce determination of a drowning man who was either going to be saved or not sink to the watery depths alone. She screamed.

“Break the connection!” she heard Poe yell – or at least, she thought it was Poe, the crashing sound was too loud, no longer coming from the mirror but inside her own head. She was vaguely aware of hands leaving her back, but the only hand she cared about was the nightmarish one clutching her. It was jet black and blended seamlessly with the dark surface, its claw-like fingers grasping her so tightly that her own fingers were forced back, and her bones began to creak from the pressure. She couldn’t pull her hand away though – not without pulling whatever had hold of her into the room with them.

Suddenly there was a rush of heat and her hand burst into flame. The fingers released their grip immediately, disappearing back into the black wall. Rey jerked her hand away immediately as arms wrapped tightly around her, dragging her back away from the mirror, which turned back to glass the second her fingertips left it and shattered, tiny pieces cascading over the floor in a waterfall of shards.

Rey lay still, breathing heavily; Rose's knee was in the small of her back, Poe’s arm was wrapped uncomfortably tightly around her shoulders, and half of her leg was trapped under Finn’s body, who was also clasping her now extinguished hand. A lot of the candles had been knocked over in the struggle, but a single gesture from Finn plunged them into a murky darkness.

“What,” came Rose’s voice eventually. “The hell was that?”

“Not Jyn I’m guessing,” Poe said, an undeniable tremor in his own voice.

“Was it human?” Finn asked.

“No,” Rey shook her head vehemently, untangling herself from various limbs and sitting up. “It didn’t feel human.”

“What did it feel like?” Finn sat up next to her. Rey cradled her hand. It was beginning to throb, and her skin felt taut and painful to touch – but she would’ve willingly stuck her hand in a furnace if that could burn away the feeling of those long fingers closed around her.

“Bad,” she said, eventually. Finn reached towards her, enveloping her in a hug.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It was a bad idea. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, clinging to him. “My hand feels a bit sore though…”

“Sorry about that too. It was the only thing I could think of doing.”

“It’s ok - it was a pretty good idea.”

“We’re both fine too, thanks for asking!” Poe snapped.

“Speak for yourself,” Rose said, sounding shaken. “Can we get some light? I hate sitting here in the dark after… that.”

Rey released Finn and shakily got to her feet.

“I got it,” she said, carefully navigating her way past candle jars and wayward limbs to the wall. She felt for the light and flicked the switch. Nothing happened. She flicked it again. Still nothing.

“You don’t think we blew the power?” she asked.

“I don’t see why we should've,” Poe said, joining her to flick the light for himself. “Huh,” he said. “That’s weird.”

“Please tell me nothing came through that mirror,” Rose quivered. “Please _god_ tell me we didn’t summon a demon.”

“For god’s sake, we did not summon a demon! This is New York – it's probably a power surge or something,” Poe said, impatiently. “The fuse box is in the hallway, right?”

“Right,” Rey confirmed. No one moved.

“Well, isn’t someone coming?” Poe asked, eventually.

“Too scared to go alone?” Finn quipped.

“Are you?” Poe shot back.

“We’ll all go,” Rey said, eager to process what had just happened in the comfort of the light. Clearly everyone felt the same way as no one argued, and together they all shuffled into the hallway, Finn and his flickering flame leading the way.

“Where’s the fuse box?” Poe whispered.

“I think it’s there by the kitchen door,” Rose whispered back, pointing - just as the lights all flickered back on. Rose stared at her finger in shock.

“Was that you?” Rey asked.

“No!” Rose protested. “At least I don’t think –”

 _BANG._ The front door flew open and a black shadow tore into the apartment. The group separated: Rose and Rey diving to one side, while Poe grabbed Finn and threw the both of them to the other, barely clearing the path before the thing hit the wall and crumpled into a heap on the floor.

“Stay back!” barked a new voice. A middle-aged man clutching a staff appeared in the doorway, but before Rey could take a proper look, the black shape rose to its feet. It was big and seemed to fill the entirety of their hallway with ease. For one moment, Rey thought that Rose had been right, and they _had_ brought the demon from the mirror into their apartment. But as it reached out towards the man in the doorway, she noticed that its hand was more human than the shadowy claw, encased in a shiny, black glove. The initial illusion shattered, Rey began to pick out other details of its appearance. She had met enough bikers at Takodana to recognise that the intruder was wearing all-black motorcycle leathers, except for the boots, which were combat, and the helmet, which was the wrong shape to be effective at protecting the head in any way. It wasn’t until the figure turned its head slightly, giving them a glimpse of the stylised visor, that Rey recognised him.

This was something much worse than a mirror demon.

“Kylo Ren,” Rose gasped next to her. The man in the doorway brought his staff down on the floor, sending a small wave rolling across the floorboards, knocking Ren off his feet. The man ran towards him, twirling his staff about his head, ready to bring it down on Ren’s helmet. But Ren was ready for him, putting his hand out seconds before the staff hit, stopping it mid-air.

In that moment, the tables were turned.

The man went sliding back down the hallway, trying to yank the staff out of the air, his feet desperately trying to get a grip as they slid unrelentingly across the floorboards. Ren was the one advancing now, with an air of grim satisfaction. The man gave up on the staff and caught the doorframe to try and stop himself, which began to creak and splinter from the effort of resisting Ren’s push. Sensing freedom, Ren began to pick up speed.

“No!” Before she fully registered what she was doing, Rey threw out her arm, making Ren suddenly career left into the wall. He shook his head, surprised, and rounded on her, stretching his hand out towards her. Rey felt the power surge at her and thrust her own wounded hand out in defence, sending her own power to meet it.

The collision sent a jolt up Rey’s arm, and fresh pain blossomed in her charred palm as she struggled to resist Ren. He was stronger than her, she felt that – but the longer she held on, the more clearly she could feel other things – surprise? Irritation? Fear?

Intrigue?

Ren jerked his hand, cutting off the connection. Rey almost felt to her feet at the sudden loss of contact, her hand pulsing violently. But Ren didn’t move.

“What –,” he began, before crumpling to the floor. The man stood over him, panting heavily with his stick raised. _Definitely not a motorcycle helmet_ , Rey thought, grimly.

Footsteps echoed in the stairwell as someone pounded up the stairs towards them, and to Rey's surprise, Leia appeared in their doorway.

“What did you do?” she demanded, rushing over to Kylo Ren and crouching down next to him.

“He’s fine! He’s just unconscious!” the man said, dismissively, leaning on his staff as if it were a walking stick.

“Goddammit Luke, he was coming willingly and now he’s unconscious?” Leia yelled, exasperatedly.

“Hey, I didn’t see you helping!” Luke argued. “Besides, this wasn’t all me.” He nodded at Rey, Finn, Poe and Rose at the end of the corridor, all staring at the sight of their High Priestess tenderly cradling the head of one of the most feared dark witches in America. Leia looked up at them.

“Shit.”


	5. The High Priestess' Plan

There were fragments of broken glass in the pizza boxes and a faint smell of burnt wood lingered in the air. Wax from the overturned candle jars had dripped onto the floor, webbing through the cracks in the floorboards like multi-coloured veins. Under normal circumstances, they never would have dreamed of having any guests with the living room in this state, let alone their High Priestess. Yet here she was, perched on the chair furthest away from the mess, taking sporadic sips of coffee from their best mug, which had been hastily retrieved from their pile of dirty dishes and washed specifically.

Rey sat squished on the sofa with the other three. On one side of her, Rose was busy slathering her wounded hand in a thick paste that smelled vile but had a pleasant cooling effect on her raw skin. On her other side, Finn was flicking his fingers against his thumb, making a small flame dance in and out of existence. Their shock at what had just happened had only been beaten by the realisation that the man Leia had called Luke was Luke _Skywalker_ , her renegade twin brother. Skywalker was a known hermit and the only exception to the kindling rule. Hardly anyone in the coven had actually met him in person, not even Poe. 

Yet now he was in their hallway, his muttering occasionally interspersed with a dull thud as he hit the walls with his staff. 

Kylo Ren was still unconscious. There had been some discussion about where to put him, until Rey had volunteered her bedroom. This had initially been met with uncertainty on Leia’s part and bemusement on Luke’s, but then Rey had explained that she had been sharing Rose’s room for the past few nights anyway, so someone may as well use it.

So now here they were, in a living room that resembled a war zone, with their High Priestess on their couch, a dark wizard in one of their bedrooms, and a stranger casting spells in their hallway. It seemed almost impossible to Rey that they’d been munching on pizza and enjoying the mundaneness of a standard Friday evening only a couple of hours ago.

Luke lumbering back into the room drew everyone’s attention.

“It’s done,” he said, sitting heavily on the arm of Leia’s chair and taking her cup, slurping from it loudly.

“What’s done?” Finn asked, cautiously. Luke passed the now empty cup back to his sister. Coffee ran down his beard, dripping onto his clothes. He drew his sleeve across his mouth.

“Locking enchantments,” he said. “The only way Ren can leave this house now is with one of you – _willingly_.”

“Right, but why is he here?” Finn pressed, the flame flickering between his fingers leaping suddenly in his agitation. Poe shot him a warning look, but Luke seemed wholly unconcerned. He turned to Leia.

“You haven’t told them yet?”

“I haven’t had the chance!” she shot back. Luke mimed zipping his mouth shut and gestured for her to go ahead before. Leia rolled her eyes heavily and set her cup down by her feet.

“What I’m about to tell you, you cannot repeat to anyone else,” she said. “Not anyone in the coven, _no one_.”

“Of course –” Poe began.

“I mean it,” Leia cut across him, fixing him with a hard stare. “I know that "secret" seems to just be more of a recommendation these days than a requirement. But this isn’t the Amidala House. This is important. Try not to talk about it amongst yourselves if you can help it – and certainly not outside this apartment. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” Poe muttered, flushing a little, and Rey nodded along with Finn and Rose.

“Good,” Leia said. “Good.” She twisted her fingers together, playing with the various rings that rested on them, fixating on her wedding ring in particular, which she had never taken off even though she and Han Solo had been separated for several years prior to his death. “You’re all aware of my colleague, Senator Snoke? For the past five years, he and the First Order have been slowly taking over other covens. He wants to dispense with the coven system and create a sort of… _empire_.” The word hung in the air, the dark significance of it bearing down on them.

“Like the Dark Father,” Rey said. Both Luke and Leia froze momentarily, an indescribable expression flickering across their faces. But they recovered quickly.

“Yes,” Leia said. “Like the Dark Father.”

“But why are the other covens joining him?” Finn asked. “They must know that Snoke’s a fucking piece of shit?” Leia’s mouth quirked, but it was Poe who answered.

“They don’t exactly have a choice,” he said. “It’s join or die. Or, in most cases, resist, be horribly tortured, possibly killed, and _then_ join.”

“You mean, you knew about this?!” Finn demanded.

“Well sure! I know I hang out here a lot but I _am_ a congregant, remember?” Poe said, exasperatedly. “But what’s changed?” he asked, turning back to Leia. “As you say – he’s been doing this for the past five years.”

“Gial Ackbar’s coven has fallen,” Leia said. “The Inner Circle found out on Sunday evening. There was a fire in the night and he burned to death in his sleep. The official police report said it was an accident caused by faulty wiring and empty batteries in the smoke detectors.” Rey felt a chill run down her spine, despite the heat that was starting to radiate from Finn next to her. She put her free hand on his knee, wishing that she had Rose’s empath ability.

“What?!” Now it was Poe’s turn to be agitated. “Ackbar’s gone?! Why didn’t you say anything at the last coven meeting?”

“Much for the same reason that you didn’t tell your friends about the First Order threat, I suspect,” Leia replied, dryly.

“My parents,” Rose said, suddenly. “Was that the First Order too?” Rose’s parents had also been witches, and she and her sister had been raised in another coven in San Diego until about five years ago, when a fire at their parents’ Vietnamese restaurant had left them orphaned. The police report had also deemed it an accident.

“Probably,” Leia said, looking at Rose apologetically. Rose nodded, dipping her head to focus on finishing bandaging Rey's hand, her long hair hiding her face from view. Rey didn't need to be an empath to guess how she was feeling.

“So what does this have to do with Ren?” She spat the name out, filled with nothing but disgust for anyone associated with the First Order. Leia took a deep breath.

“I want to turn him to our side.”

The uproar was instant.

“WHAT?”

“You’re not serious?!”

“There’s no way…”

Luke banged his stick on the floor, making the floorboards rumble and the glass shards and candle jars rattle. They fell into a sullen silence.

“I understand what you’re feeling,” Leia said. “And you have every right to feel this way. But I begged the other covens for years to take this threat seriously. They didn’t and now they’re gone.”

“And there really is no one left?” Finn asked. “No survivors?”

“There are always survivors,” Leia replied. “But they’re in hiding. And if they have any sense, they’ll stay that way. I know it sounds crazy but Kylo Ren is our best shot. He’s a powerful witch. He’s close to Snoke. We need him.”

“Need him?” Finn repeated, incredulously. Heat rolled off him in relentless waves, and Rey felt sweat begin to break out on her forehead. She quickly moved her hand off his knee before she ended up with two scorched hands.

“Calm down boy,” Luke growled, but Finn didn’t listen. He jumped up and began pacing the floor, wood and glass smouldering and smoking under his feet.

“Even knowing what the First Order is capable of?" he ranted. "Even after what they did to me? To Poe? To Rose?! Fuck, I mean, they’re probably the ones who took Jyn!” Rey flinched at the sound of Jyn’s name and Luke glanced at her with interest. She looked away.

“It's _because_ I know what the First Order is capable of!” Leia insisted. She leaned forward, looking at Finn imploringly. “There is no one else. Ackbar was the greatest ally we had against Snoke, and now he’s gone, we are the _only_ coven left. We cannot resist the First Order alone.”

“What makes you think Ren even wants to be turned?” Rey asked, doubtfully. Of all the things she had felt when they had briefly connected, a desire to redeem himself was not one of them.

“He reached out to me. There is… a conflict in him. We convinced him to meet us in hopes of convincing him to come back. It almost worked,” Leia said, shooting a disapproving look at Luke.

“What do you mean “come back”?” Rey asked, cautiously. Again, Leia seemed agitated and Luke placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She gripped it tightly.

“Before he was Kylo Ren, he was Ben Solo: my son.”

There was no loud outcry this time, but the silence was somehow louder, ringing in Rey’s ears as if Leia’s words had been a bomb that had exploded right next to her. She glanced at the others and their faces reflected her own state of shock: Rose’s mouth dropped open, Poe’s eyebrows shot up into his curls, and even Finn froze mid-step.

“Kylo Ren… is your _son_?” Poe repeated, the first to regain his words. “Does the Inner Circle know about this? How do _I_ not know about this – I’m your damn secretary!”

“Of course the Inner Circle know about it Dameron!” Leia snapped, impatiently. “What neither they nor anyone else know is that he’s here.”

“Are we safe?” Rose piped up, suddenly. “It’s just…” she faltered as everyone’s attention turned to her. “You mentioned he can’t leave. Haven’t you just locked a dangerous man in our home?”

“You’re more than safe,” Leia reassured her. “It was mainly Luke he had a problem with.”

“And if he does attack you, he’ll never be able to leave, so there’s that!” Luke chipped in, cheerily. Rose's grip tightened on Rey's bandaged hand, but there was no warmth or reassurance in her touch this time – just the same nervous energy that she already felt vibrating through her.

“I know to you Kylo Ren is a monster,” Leia said. “But I never believed that he turned. Not fully.”

“Not even after he killed Han?” Rey cut in.

“Even then,” Leia said, evenly. “He was always a lonely child – he never had many friends, and Han and I both struggled to connect with him. But he was never cruel. He never…” she broke off, unable to say what must have been the worst possible thing that could have happened to her. “I suspect that Snoke is the reason Ben joined the First Order in the first place. It is both mine and Han’s biggest failure as parents that we didn’t notice something was wrong until it was too late.”

“But that _still_ doesn’t explain why he’s here,” Finn reminded them, exasperatedly.

“Oh for god’s sake,” Luke muttered to Leia but still loud enough for them all to hear. “I know they’re only confirmants, but do we really need to spell it out for them?”

“The confirmant safehouse is one of the most heavily guarded buildings the coven has,” Leia explained, pointedly ignoring her brother. “More importantly, you are the most protected people in the coven. It’s not easy to figure out who a coven’s congregants are, but I’d be a foolish High Priestess if I didn’t make that job ten times harder for confirmants.” She smiled at them with a motherly tenderness that made Rey’s heart warm and ache at the same time. “Snoke can’t find him here. And without his interference, we actually may have a chance of turning him.”

“But congregants are magically bound to keep this place a secret,” Rey pointed out. “So why can’t they know about Ren?”

“Snoke’s not going to let Kylo Ren just disappear. He’s going to come looking for him. Congregants may be magically unable to say anything – but that won’t save them from Snoke if he senses that they do know something.”

“But... _I_ know something and I'm a congregant,” Poe said. Leia looked at him sadly.

“Yes,” she said. “I really wish you hadn’t been here Dameron. If things had gone to plan, this would’ve been different. I’m sorry.” Poe paled considerably, the colour slowly seeping from his olive skin.

“Gotcha,” he muttered.

“I’m asking a lot of you,” Leia acknowledged. “But none of you are alone in this. Both Luke and I are going to check in regularly. If it’s too much or not working, we’ll explore other options. Please?”

Rey wanted to say no. She wanted to yell in frustration at Leia for even thinking this could work. She wanted to throw Luke out the door, staff and all. She couldn’t even begin to think about all the things she wanted to do to Kylo Ren. Most of all, she wanted to be back lying on the living room floor with Rose and Poe, Finn passed out on the sofa next to her, and have their biggest worries be eating too much pizza.

But even as she thought them, she knew that none of those things were possible.

“Fine,” Finn ground out, before storming out the room, slamming the door behind him as he went. Poe cursed under his breath and followed him, presumably to make sure he didn’t set the whole of New York on fire, leaving Rey and Rose on the sofa.

“So,” Leia cleared her throat. “Now that that’s decided, don’t think I haven’t noticed all this,” she gestured to the mess around her. “Are you all alright?”

Rey nodded.

“Would you like to talk about it now or can it wait?”

“It can wait,” Rey said, abruptly. It seemed so insignificant compared to what they’d been told, and she didn’t have the energy to go through it all again now. Rose’s uncertainty thrummed through their hands, but she didn’t object.

“I understand,” Leia rose. “I think the best thing for you to do is get some rest.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Rose admitted, hoarsely. Leia smiled at her, kindly.

“Luckily I can help with that,” she said. She held her hand out to Rose, who took it and allowed herself to be gently guided from the room. Leaving Rey alone with Luke.

“So,” he said. “ _You’re_ Jyn Erso’s kid.” It wasn’t really a question, but Rey answered anyway.

“That’s right,” she nodded. Luke grunted but didn’t say anything. He just looked at her, his cold blue eyes peering into her brown ones. Rey’s discomfort grew and she wanted desperately to look away - but something was holding her firmly in place and she couldn’t tear herself out of its grasp. A prickling sensation broke out in the centre of her forehead, spreading through the inside of her head like an itch she was desperate to scratch.

_Was he… reading her mind?_

The corners of Luke’s mouth twitched slightly, and he blinked. Instantly, Rey could move again and the itching subsided, though that didn’t stop her from rubbing her forehead roughly. Luke glanced over the debris on the floor: the shattered glass, the empty mirror frame, the discarded candles, and looked grimly satisfied.

“Someone’s looking for you,” he said suddenly.

“Who?” Rey asked. But Luke had already got up and left the room, his staff clunking against the floor like a third footstep. Rey went after him. “Who’s looking for me?” Luke paused, already halfway out the front door, and turned to her.

“Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise,” he said. “See you around, Rey Andor.”

She hadn't told him her name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of dialogue in this chapter! But Kylo Ren's waking up in the next one, so someone's probably going to get thrown against a wall at least once ;)


	6. The Man behind the Mask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we get started, I just want to give massive hugs to any other Brit reading this who's thoroughly depressed about Brexit yesterday... hopefully this takes your mind off things a little! 
> 
> I had to rewatch the interrogation scene from TFA **so many times** for this chapter... not that I mind at all ;)

It wasn’t until Sunday that Kylo Ren finally emerged from the room.

After a restless night, Rey had spent Saturday feeling as if her head had been stuffed with cotton wool, and even though Rose had got some sleep with Leia’s help, she hadn’t looked much better. Finn had returned around midday, though he hadn’t said where he had been and neither Rey nor Rose had asked. Together, they had gathered up the remaining candles, picked wax out of the floorboards, and swept up the glass, listening out for the slightest creak of the door opening and jumping at unexpected noises. But the door hadn’t opened, and no one had seen as much as a gleam of a helmet nor a swish of cape. Finally, only the empty mirror frame had remained.

“We could always put it back in Rose’s room for now?” Finn had suggested, but Rose had shut that idea down immediately.

“Over my cold, lifeless corpse.”

So, the next morning, Finn went out with Poe to get rid of the mirror frame, leaving Rey and Rose sitting at the kitchen table, checking on Rey’s burns.

“I hate this,” Rose said, as she unravelled the bandages.

“Sorry, I would do this myself, but I’m left-handed,” Rey said, deliberately misinterpreting her words in a half-hearted attempt to lighten the mood. Rose snorted.

“You know what I mean,” she said. “I get headaches every time I walk past his door from all the... _emotions_.”

“Dare I ask what emotions?”

“Rage, frustration, bitterness,” Rose listed them off one by one. “But that’s not even the worst part... he’s pushing them down so much he’s basically a pressure cooker of negativity. Urgh.” She shuddered, as if trying to shake the feelings off her.

“Great, so we’re optimistic about his redemption then?” Rey asked. Rose raised an eyebrow.

“Feeling the way he does... I don’t believe it’s possible to redeem him,” she said. “Mind you, I don’t believe in Santa Claus either – doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be happy to be proven wrong.” She peeled away the final bandage layer. Rey’s hand was still smothered in paste, making it difficult to see whether it looked better or not – but it certainly didn’t smell any better.

“Yuck!” Rey wrinkled her nose and headed for the sink, holding her hand as far away from her face as possible.

“No one said being a witch was glamorous,” Rose replied, gingerly holding the bandage between two fingers. “Maybe we should get Finn to incinerate this.”

Rey rinsed her hand clean and held it up to the light. It was a lot pinker than on the rest of her arm, the two tones separating in a very neat line across her wrist. She flexed it experimentally. It took a little more effort than usual to close her hand completely into a fist; her fingers were a little swollen and the skin still felt as if it were stretched too tightly over her flesh. But all in all, its condition was far better than it would have been reasonable to expect from a hand that had been on fire. Rose nodded, satisfied.

“It looks like it’s healing great!” she said. “How’s your power control?” In response, Rey flicked her fingers and the bandage lurched out of Rose’s grasp and into the bin, slithering over the edge like a snake.

“My aim’s a little off,” she noted.

“It’ll be back to normal in a few days,” Rose promised her. “Just keep it moisturised and do some gentle clenching exercises.”

“That’s what she said,” Rey said, struggling to keep a straight face. Rose began to smile too and the two of them dissolved into giggles: They laughed harder than the mild innuendo probably deserved, but it seemed to burst the bubble of nervous tension that they'd been encased in since Friday evening, and it felt glorious.

… until they heard a creak from the hallway.

Instantly, they both froze, waiting to hear heavy footsteps come pounding down the corridor towards them - but no one came tearing through the open kitchen door. Instead, the creak was followed by an awkward shuffling sound – hardly the noise they would have thought a man clad in combat boots would make.

Slowly, Rey reached for the knife block on the counter next to her and slid the large chef’s knife from its slot. Clasping it in her right hand with the blade pointing towards the floor, she crept towards the door, treading carefully so as to not make any noises herself, Rose sandwiched to her back. Inch by inch, they edged into the hallway.

Kylo Ren had his back to them. He seemed to be cautiously examining his surroundings, his shoulders tense as if he was ready for an attack, but didn’t know where it would come from and so expected it to come from everywhere. He was still wearing his helmet and his cape, but it looked a lot less imposing in the daylight than it had a couple of evenings ago. Now he just looked lost and out of place.

In spite of Rose’s tugging on her shoulder, Rey took a step forwards.

Kylo whirled around, his hand shooting out in front of him. The knife clattered to the floor as Rey’s whole body stiffened and floated into the air. Rose grabbed at her, trying to pull her back down, but with another gesture from Kylo, she also rose into the air, immobile. Rey twitched violently, desperately trying to jerk herself free.

“You still want to kill me?” he asked, his voice muffled and metallic. Rey fought back her panic as the knife she had dropped slowly lifted off the floor to hover in front of her face, the tip of the blade pointing directly between her eyes.

“That’s what happens when you’re being hunted by a creature in a mask,” she spat at him, fear making her lash out.

“Rey!” Rose hissed from behind her, alarmed. Rey ignored her, trying to look past the knife and straight into the visor where she thought his eyes would be. For a moment, Kylo Ren didn’t move. Then, to her surprise, he raised his hands and began taking off the helmet.

No one had seen Ren without his helmet. Rey had heard plenty of rumours about the face that lay beneath, the most popular being that he was some form of hideously scarred monster, though her personal favourite had been that he didn’t have a head at all. Knowing now that he was Ben Solo meant that he probably _did_ have a head, though didn't tell her anything else, as she didn't know what he looked like either. She had known his father though, and a part of her was both thrilled and terrified at facing a young Han Solo lookalike.

She was almost disappointed when the face behind the mask was neither disfigured nor Solo-ish. Kylo Ren's skin was so pale it was almost translucent, and Rey wondered when he had last gone outside without the helmet on. His dark, collar-length hair was shiny from sweat and flattened against his forehead from days of confinement. He had dark eyes, a very prominent, straight nose, and surprisingly full lips that didn't look like they belonged on his thin face. He could not have looked further from Han Solo or Leia Organa.

“Tell me where I am,” he said. His voice was clearer now but just as deep, almost as if he was purring the words more than speaking them.

“I can’t,” Rey said, a hint of smugness tinging her words. “It’s a coven safehouse. I’m magically unable to.”

“My mother’s coven, I take it?” Kylo cast a disparaging look around him. “With all the money she has, I would have thought she could at least afford something… bigger.”

“I like it,” Rey said. His eyes flicked back to her.

“Who are you?” he asked. Rey pressed her lips together, pointedly. “How do I leave?” Rey didn’t respond. The knife glided lazily through the air towards her, dropping from her face to press against her midriff – not hard, but harder than she was comfortable with. “Why am I here?” The knife crept forward, and Rey sucked her stomach in as far as she could but still didn’t reply. “You know I can take whatever I want?”

“I’m not giving you anything,” she said, through gritted teeth. Kylo looked annoyed rather than surprised by her response, and the knife withdrew from her stomach. Rey sighed in relief – only for the knife to drift lazily past her towards Rose.

“It won’t do you any good!” she said, in a panic. “Luke Skywalker put a spell on this place – you can’t leave unless we say so… _willingly_.” She emphasised the word, almost yelling it at him. “And I swear to god if you hurt her, I will burn this whole fucking building down with you inside!” Kylo didn’t flinch but the knife paused in mid-air, inches away from Rose’s chest. He stared at her, as if trying to gage the legitimacy of her threat. Rey forced herself to glare back, filling her mind with thoughts of fire: the flames licking at his flesh and chewing on his helmet as it slowly devoured him whole. It seemed to work. His expression soured further and the knife suddenly flew forward, embedding itself in the door frame, inches away from Rose’s head.

“We’ll see,” he muttered. He stepped closer, raising his hand. Rey barely had time to turn her face away from his before she felt the same prickling sensation in her forehead that she had with Luke, except this was far more invasive. Rather than an annoying itch, this felt like a colony of angry fire ants was storming through her brain.

“You’re so lonely. So afraid to leave. At night, desperate to sleep,” he muttered, more to himself than her, his fingers twitching slightly as if he was physically sorting through her thoughts. “You miss your mother – but you’re also angry that she left. So angry. Well, that’s what parents do I’m afraid – they disappoint you-”

“Get out of my head,” Rey hissed through gritted teeth. The pain was going to drive her mad. Her hands were spasming madly, desperate to rip through their unseen restraints and tear through her own skull if that would make it stop.

“Don’t be afraid, I feel it too,” he whispered, almost soothingly. She felt her whole body move slowly towards him, like his hand suddenly had a gravitational pull and she was compelled to orbit around it for eternity. She pulled back, refusing to get any closer to him, gasping from the effort. He frowned, and the pressure increased. The inside of Rey’s head was turmoil, and her mind thrashed around blindly, searching for a way to escape.

Suddenly, she found it. A white spot – tiny but safe and devoid of any pain. It began to pull back almost instantly, but Rey clung onto it, unwilling to let go of the one sanctuary she had. She leaned forwards physically as she followed it mentally, and she realised it wasn’t a spot at all but the end of a thread...

... a thread that led straight to Kylo Ren’s thoughts.

Before he could realise that he had an intruder, she grabbed onto the first thought that flitted past her.

“You,” she growled. “You’re afraid... that you will never be as strong as the Dark Father.” His eyes widened in surprise, and he wrenched his hand away from her, snapping their connection. Rey fell to the floor, almost sobbing with relief as she felt his presence leave her brain, but determined not to cry in front of him. Kylo Ren stared at her, the expression on his face a mixture of fear and anger.

Behind her, the front door opened and a worried voice called her name.

“Rey? Rose?” Kylo’s eyes moved from her face to the people who had just entered, and he snarled before storming back into his room, his cape whirling dramatically behind him. Rey felt Rose drop to the floor next to her as strong arms grabbed her and hauled her to her feet.

“Are you okay?” Poe asked. Rey didn’t respond but threw herself on him, hugging him tightly. She felt Poe stagger back in surprise - hugs weren’t typically a feature of their friendship, but he recovered quickly and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing reassuringly. Over his shoulder, she could see Finn helping Rose to her feet, who was shaking so badly that she was having trouble standing. He pointed to the knife in the door frame.

“If that was him, I’m gonna barbecue him,” he promised.

**xXx**

“I’m definitely gonna barbecue him,” Finn said after Rey and Rose had finished recounting what had happened while he and Poe had been gone. He was sitting between them at the kitchen table, clasping their hands tightly in each of his own, as if trying to merge their flesh with his own. “And I’m never leaving you both alone with him again.”

“Finn, as much as I appreciate the thought, I’m really not sure how much of a difference you could have made,” Rose said. She had stopped shaking, but every now and then she would shudder violently.

“I don’t like the thought of you being alone with him either… _any_ of you!” Poe said, as Rose opened her mouth to protest. He was standing by the stove, quietly stirring a large bowl of pasta, though Rey could see from his clenched jaw that he did not feel as calm as he looked. “I’m going to talk to Leia about this – there’s no way this is safe.”

“I mean, how did any of us think he was going to react to finding out he’s stuck here?” Rey asked. "He's awful but he's not an idiot - hopefully he'll just stay sulking in his room."

“Yeah well, I’m still talking to Leia,” Poe said, stubbornly. “Food’s up!” He dished out four bowls of pasta, and Rey gently wrestled her hand out of Finn's grip and levitating each of the bowls to the table.

“Your hand looks better though!” Poe noted, sitting down next to her.

“Yeah, Rose said it should be back to normal in a few days,” Rey nodded.

“Speaking of that… I guess we should tell Leia about what happened on Friday?” Rose asked, tentatively. The others paused.

“I dunno man – I feel like she has enough to be dealing with,” Finn said.

“Yeah, besides, we saw that thing disappear into the mirror and then the mirror broke. There’s no way it could’ve come through,” Poe agreed. “Not like anything would want to be in the apartment with that ray of sunshine anyway… Kylo Ren I mean, not you Rey – you’re a literal ray of sunshine.”

“Thanks for the clarification,” Rey said, dryly.

“So… we just write it off as a lucky escape?” Rose asked, nodding slowly.

“Think so. Sorry it didn’t give you any answers though Rey,” Finn said. Rey shrugged.

“It was worth a shot,” she said. “Sorry that we broke your mirror, Rose.”

“Ehh, it’s okay – technically that creepy demon thing broke it anyway,” she said, twirling spaghetti around her fork. “But you guys owe me a new vanity.”

“That’s fair,” Finn agreed.

“What did you do with the frame anyway?”

“We burned it,”

“You _burned_ it?”

“Better safe than sorry!”

The atmosphere in the room began to lift, coaxed by casual chit-chat and Poe’s delicious pasta sauce. But Rey didn’t join in just yet. She paused with her fork halfway to her mouth, looking at her food – before getting up and ladling another portion of pasta into a bowl.

“Uh Peanut, you might want to finish this plate before you move onto seconds,” Finn said.

“This isn’t for me,” she said. The conversation died instantly.

“Ahh come on, you’re not seriously going to waste my papa’s secret sauce on that guy?” Poe demanded.

“We can’t let him starve,” Rey snapped, annoyed at herself that she couldn’t do just that - it was what he deserved.

“Why not?” Finn asked, petulantly.

“Because we’re not the First Order,” she retorted, turning back to them. “Look, we can all agree that Kylo Ren is a massive piece of shit. But he’s also Leia’s son – and I just want to do right by her. Do you get it?”

“Yeah,” Rose said, nodding. “We do.”

“For Leia,” Poe said, eventually, and Finn mumbled his agreement. Rey nodded too and left the warmth of the kitchen to step into the dark hallway. She approached the door carefully, ready to fling the whole bowl of pasta at his face and run if he emerged, Kes Dameron’s sauce be damned. But the door stayed shut. She paused, listening for any movement from inside the room. When she heard none, she tentatively placed the bowl on the floor and knocked once, before near running back to the safety of the kitchen.

She didn’t see Kylo open the door to get it, but the pasta bowl was empty when she got up the next morning.

**xXx**

As the week continued, it looked like Rey had been right: Kylo Ren stayed in his room, no doubt sulking if Rose's headaches were anything to go by. Every day, Rey would place a bowl of food in front of his door before she went to work and before she went to bed, and when she returned home and got up in the morning, it would be empty. He never left any other sign that he left the room; everything in the cupboards remained exactly as they left them and their towels were undisturbed. It was like living with a ghost.

But just because they didn’t see him, didn’t mean that life returned to normal. The three of them all slept in the same room, pushing the two beds together to make one big one that wasn’t nearly big enough. The lack of space and their combined body heat meant that Rey's quality of sleep decreased dramatically, but there was no question of anyone sleeping alone.

She noticed that Finn and Rose were also starting to stay out more: Rose spending more and more time with her sister and Finn taking on extra shifts at the fire station. Rey couldn't blame them though, she had started leaving for work a good hour before she needed to and dragging her feet on the way home. Kylo Ren’s presence in their house was like a cancer, slowly poisoning the one place that Rey had ever felt absolutely safe.

She was alone when Leia knocked on the door on the Friday evening, making dinner in the kitchen. Both Finn and Rose were out, though both had promised to come home as soon as possible once Rey had texted them to say she was back and making dinner.

“Hello Rey,” Leia said warmly, kissing her on the cheek. “How are you? Your hand looks much better!”

“Yes, thank you,” Rey said, stepping back to let her in. “How are you?”

“Eh, how does that phrase go... there’s no rest for the wiccan? Or is it wicked? Either way, there is no rest,” she said. “How are things going with…” she trailed off, nodding her head down the corridor towards Kylo Ren's door. Rey paused, struggling to find the right words - but her silence spoke for her. “That bad, huh?” Leia asked, sighing. “I brought some clothes for him… I couldn’t bear the thought of him running around in that stupid helmet. Do you mind if I…?”

“No, no, of course!” Rey said, stepping back to allow Leia to pass and returning to the kitchen to give them some privacy. She had just finished chopping the onions when Leia returned.

“I've left the clothes outside the door. He won’t come out,” she said, sitting down heavily and looking older than Rey had ever seen her. “I suppose I’m not surprised. Goddamn Solo men, as hot-headed and stubborn as they come.”

“Except Han never threatened me with a knife and then forced himself into my head,” Rey muttered. Leia nodded, sadly.

“Yes, Poe did mention something about that,” she said, her voice tinged with remorse. “Are you all okay? I can always find somewhere else to put him?” Rey immediately opened her mouth to say "yes" - but then she saw the hurt and desperation in Leia's eyes. She wondered if Jyn's eyes looked the same when she thought about her.

“It’s okay,” she said, eventually. “He hasn’t left his room since that happened. Not that I’ve seen anyway.” Leia nodded again but still looked concerned, and reached out to take her hand. Her rings felt cold against Rey's skin but Rey didn't mind at all.

“Tell me if it gets too much,” she said. “Promise me, Rey.”

“I promise,” Rey agreed, readily.

“Thank you,” Leia smiled at her, releasing her hand and pulling herself to her feet.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Rey asked. "I'm probably not the best cook but I haven't poisoned anyone yet!"

“I would love to," Leia said, and she sounded like she really would. "But sadly, I have to go. A witch’s work is never done, or so Holdo keeps reminding me. But I’m holding an emergency council meeting tomorrow, and I want you three to be there. Seven o’clock. I’ll send Dameron to collect you… if he’s not here already.” And with one last smile, Leia left the apartment.

Rey sniffled as she returned to the food, and told herself it was because of the onions.


	7. The Coven Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I missed my Saturday post date (and heads up, I maaaay miss this one too!) but I hope the fact that I'm uploading this chapter and the next one together make up for it (they were initially going to be one chapter but it ended up being too long compared to the other ones and I am a sucker for consistency haha!). 
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day! <3

In the seventeenth century, people believed that witches would regularly fly to a secret location to feast at Satan’s table and do unspeakable things with his demonic henchmen. Some people said the witches would bring children for the Devil to baptise as his followers and teach his dark ways, threatening to throw them down to Hell if they refused. 

While this definitely _did not_ happen, there was some truth to the idea of witches gathering secretly, although this involved a lot less devil worship and a lot more potlucks and casual conversation. In a society where even mentioning the word “magic” could be a death sentence, coven gatherings were the only time when witches could truly be themselves. 

Rey had always been excited about the prospect of attending her first meeting. As a confirmant, she had no idea what happened there, and Poe had been uncharacteristically secretive when they had begged him for information, tapping his nose and revelling in their playful frustration. Despite this, Rey had always assumed that her first meeting would be a celebration, as it would mark the fact that she was finally a congregant. 

But, as Poe drove up the long, winding road to Leia’s house and parked on her circular driveway, she felt anxious rather than excited, her stomach churning unpleasantly, and she silently raged against Kylo Ren for having ruined this moment for her. 

“Alright,” Poe said, turning around in his seat to grin wolfishly at Rey, Rose and Finn in the back. “You guys ready for your first coven meeting?” 

Rey didn’t respond, and it was only when Rose’s prods in her side began to threaten bruising that she reluctantly undid her seatbelt and got out the car. 

She had thought the houses in Naboo were fancy, but they might as well have been ramshackle huts compared to the Alderaan Estate. It seemed to be less of a house than a fairy-tale castle, and even had turrets – two of them. White wooden steps led up from the driveway to a wraparound porch that stretched across the entire front of the house and snaked around the corners. The wooden cladding on the walls was an even sky blue, the roof tiles a deep indigo, and the white accents on the window frames and columns were so clean and bright that it was as if the paint hadn’t yet dried. Despite the coolness of the colours on the outside, warm, welcoming light radiated from every window, and Rey felt her worries subside a little. 

From her coven history, she knew that Leia had grown up on this land, raised by her adoptive parents, Senators Bail and Breha Organa, but that they and the land had been attacked and raised to the ground by the Dark Father some thirty years ago. Once he had been defeated and Leia had been elected as senator, she had returned to the land, determined to rebuild her childhood home. As she had built, she had worked magic into the wood, bonding them together with something stronger than nails and coating them with something more protective than paint: strengthening and reinforcing them, so that the house looked as new as it had done when it had just been completed. 

The house wasn’t the only place where Leia had worked her magic. She planted it in the ground too, encouraging shrubs and trees to burst through the blackened earth, life returning to the area as quickly as it had left. Most of the land surrounding the house had been quickly overcome by forest, with trees so tall that Rey would’ve expected them to have been growing for the last few centuries, not decades. 

There were no gates or security; the land was Leia’s land and it guarded her well, both from witches and nosy reporters. The forest wasn’t that big, but it was deceptively easy to get lost in if you didn’t know your way. Anyone trying to sneak up to the house found themselves wandering in circles for hours, growing increasingly on edge as the trees whispered around them or something that they were never quick enough to see began to follow them. By the time the trees released them back to where they had entered, what Leia Organa did in the privacy of her own home was the last thing on their minds. 

Poe took the steps two at a time and thumped on the front door. It opened almost immediately. 

“Dameron! You’re late!” a large man with dark hair and a beard greeted him. 

“ _Fashionably_ late!” Poe corrected him. 

“Still late,” the man argued, but he was grinning. He looked past Poe’s head to see Rey, Finn and Rose hovering uncertainly behind him. “Are these the confirmants then?” 

“Snap, meet Finn Storm, Rose Tico and Rey Andor,” Poe introduced them, dragging them forward up the steps. “Guys meet Temmin Wexley, aka Snap.” 

“Ahh the younger Tico sister, I might have known!” Snap said, shaking each of their hands in turn. “And Rey! Maz talks about you a lot. Apparently you’re a hell of a mechanic!” 

“She’s a hell of a boss,” Rey said, feeling her cheeks warm from the praise. 

“And _you’re_ Finn eh? I was wondering when I would meet you – Poe won’t shut up about you, you know?” Snap asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

“Is that so?” Finn asked, casting a sideways look at Poe, a slow grin spreading across his face. 

“No, it’s absolutely _not_ so!” Poe protested, glaring at Snap with an expression that was simultaneously mortified and murderous. 

“Oh please! Every time I see him, it’s always “Finn this” and “Finn that”, I’ve started worrying if more than half an hour passes and he hasn’t mentioned you!” Snap continued happily, pointedly ignoring his friend. 

“Let’s get inside!” Poe said, loudly, herding all of them through the door before Finn could respond. He beckoned to Snap, “You! C’mere, we need to have a chat!” 

Finn, Rose and Rey ducked out of range, as Poe pounced on the other man, and stepped through an archway to find themselves in an entrance hall that was at least the size of their apartment. A glass chandelier glittered prettily over their heads, and a white butterfly staircase with banisters that stretched down towards them, but any other features of the room were obscured by the crowd. Despite the room’s size, the Organa Coven easily filled the entire space, milling around them in a sea of mostly unfamiliar faces. Rey could only imagine how big the room must feel when it wasn’t full of witches. She reached for Rose and Finn, and from they way their hands tightly squeezed her own, they were just as overwhelmed as she was. 

Suddenly Holdo appeared in front of them, emerging from the crowd so seamlessly that it was like she appeared out of thin air. 

“You’re late,” she said. 

“Sorry Amilyn, that’s my fault!” Poe called from the porch, where he was desperately trying to put Snap in a headlock. 

“Of course it is,” Holdo sighed, but there was no real annoyance in her voice. She had a long cardboard box tucked under one arm, which she held out to them. It was full of identical long, thin white candles. “You’ll each need one of these.” 

“What are they for?” Rose asked. 

“They’re made from beeswax from the bees in Leia’s garden. Light it when everyone else does and don’t let it go out if you can help it… it causes a lot of disruption,” Holdo said. “Do you need a lighter?” 

“That’s okay, they have me,” Finn said, grinning. The corners of Holdo’s mouth twitched a little, and she nodded, approvingly. 

“Very well. We should be starting soon – go and find someone you know to stand next to.” Looking at the wall of bodies in front of them, Rey felt that that was easier said than done, but Amilyn vanished before she could say so, blending effortlessly back into the throng. 

“Right, I guess we’re going in,” Finn said. “Hold onto my shoulders.” Clutching her candle tightly in one hand, Rey placed her hand on one of Finn’s shoulders. Rose did the same to her, her fingers digging into Rey’s skin a little more than was comfortable, and they plunged in. 

Slowly, they zigzagged their way forwards, weaving past clusters of people talking and sidestepping stray limbs. As they reached a round, blue glass table with a single orchid perched squarely on its centre, they heard a familiar voice call out: 

“Rose!” and Paige Tico burst into view in front of them, looking slightly flushed. “So happy to see you guys!” she declared, hugging each of them in turn. “You all remember my girlfriend Jess, right?” 

A witch who Rey recognised as Jessika Pava elbowed her way unceremoniously between two men in deep conversation to join them. Paige had started dating Jess when she was still living in the coven safehouse with them. Rey hadn’t seen her since Paige had become a congregant and moved out, but she had always liked her, and greeted her enthusiastically. 

“Your first coven meeting?” Jess asked. “Yeah, it’s not usually like this – I don’t think I’ve ever been to one in Leia’s house before.” 

“And hopefully never again!” Paige cut in, as someone jostled her roughly as they pushed past her. “This emergency better be worth it, whatever it is!” Rey’s stomach twisted unpleasantly, as she exchanged worried looks with Rose and Finn. Jess must’ve interpreted their concerned expressions as nerves, as she smiled reassuringly. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it though! These things are never half as exciting as you think they will be.” 

Rey was saved from responding by a sudden hush falling over the coven. Five witches emerged on the upstairs balcony: The Inner Circle. Leia appeared first, stopping in the middle of the balcony in front of them. She was followed by Holdo and Maz, who took the staircase to the left of her, and two men who took the staircase to the right. The first was Lando Calrissian, an extremely charming man and had been one of Leia’s most trusted friends and advisors ever since the reign of the Dark Father. He had dark brown skin, a killer smile, and was one of the few people Rey had ever seen who not only pulled off a moustache but looked better with it than without. The second man was known only as “Chewie” and was the tallest man Rey had ever met. He was also a werewolf, having been bitten as a young boy at his family’s cabin in Finland – although you never would’ve guessed that from his gentle nature. Being a werewolf meant that he was hairy enough in his human form, but he had been stuck between forms ever since Han had died, and long shaggy hair covered every inch of his body from his cheeks to the backs of his hands. Han’s death had left the whole coven feeling that everything was unbalanced, and there was no greater evidence of that than Chewie. 

Holdo and Lando both stopped halfway down the stairs, equidistant from each other, while Maz and Chewie continued to the bottom step. They were each clutching a lit candle of their own, although these were fatter than the ones Holdo had given out and blood red. Slowly, they lifted the candles above their heads, which continued to rise gently out of their hands to hover over the coven. Suddenly, the flame of one candle leapt to a candle opposite, which then shot across to another, tracing a pentagram of light in the air. 

_A protection symbol_ , Rey thought. 

“Light your candles,” Holdo said, and Rey dipped her candle wick into the flame Finn was balancing on his forefinger. A soft buzzing noise began to thrum around the room. Rey looked around for the source, but rather than coming from one particular place, it seemed to be coming from everywhere. 

“It’s a muffling spell,” Jess whispered to her. “As long as all the candles are lit, anyone trying to listen in will just hear a buzzing sound. Allows us to talk in private.” 

“Friends,” Leia greeted them, warmly. “Welcome! Thank you for coming at such short notice and sorry about the lack of space… I know it’s a bit crowded, but we didn’t feel comfortable saying what we want to say anywhere else.” She smiled, looking around the room, seemingly taking the time to lock eyes with everyone individually. Rey’s breath caught when Leia’s eyes met hers, but nothing changed in the older witch’s expression. 

“For the past five years,” Lando took over, his deep voice filling the room with ease. “The First Order has aggressively and mercilessly been stamping out covens all across America. I know that some of you have felt that all too well. As of now, we are the only ones left.” 

A worried murmur rippled through the crowd at this, but Leia raised a reassuring hand and the witches quietened. 

“I know this sounds terrifying. The First Order is a direct threat both to our coven and our way of life – but we _will_ resist,” she said, firmly. “Snoke may fancy himself a Prince of Darkness, but he is no Devil. And he is no Dark Father.” 

Satan was not real, and Rey knew that you were more likely to believe in him if you weren’t a witch than if you were. But that hadn’t stopped some witches – mainly male ones – either believing they were the Devil incarnate or liking the idea of bringing all witches under their control. 

The Dark Father had truly believed that he was Hell spawn, sent with the purpose of joining the covens in one infernal empire. No one doubted that he had had his demons, though most were convinced that they probably came from his own mind rather than Hell. 

Snoke, on the other hand, borrowed a lot from the Dark Father’s ideas and words, but had never actually mentioned the Devil, and didn’t seem likely to be willing to share his power with anyone, Prince of Darkness or no. 

Rey wondered which type Kylo Ren was. 

“In the meantime,” Leia was continuing. “I want you all to be safe. So, I’m suspending all coven meetings, activities and ceremonies until you hear otherwise _directly from me_. Keep your heads down and go about your lives as normal. The First Order is hunting us – but that doesn’t mean they know who they’re hunting. There is hope.” 

Rey’s mind drifted back to the man locked in their apartment and tried to convince herself that that wasn’t the hope Leia was referring to. 

“If you have any questions, please ask one of the Inner Circle and we’ll give you all the answers we have,” Holdo said. “Please keep your candles burning until the meeting has formally ended.” 

Around them, people began to move, some of them heading towards the stairs, others gathering in small groups, whispering furtively. It was then that Rey caught sight of Luka, leaning casually against the banister and looking thoroughly disinterested in the whole meeting. As if he felt her eyes on him, he looked directly up at her, holding her gaze for a few seconds before turning abruptly and disappearing through the closest doorway, people parting for him easily. 

Rey followed him, ducking away from her friends and carefully navigating her way through the crowd, shielding the flame protectively with her hands. She made it to the door unsinged and slipped through. The long empty corridor she found herself in felt like a different world compared to the room she had just left. Luke was standing a little way away, staring at a portrait, his hands clasped behind his back. 

“Has someone found you yet?” he asked, without looking at her. Rey didn’t reply for a second, unsure if he was talking to her – even though they were the only ones there. 

“I don’t know,” she said, cautiously. 

“You would know if they had,” was all Luke replied. Rey half-considered leaving him and re-joining her friends, but curiosity got the better of her. Luke didn’t acknowledge her as she crept closer, so Rey stood next to him and looked at the portrait too. She almost choked when she realised that she was staring into the canvas eyes of Kylo Ren. He was younger, and with hair short enough that she could see that his ears stuck out a little comically. His eyes were stormy though not yet clouded by darkness. He was standing next to Han Solo, almost as tall as him despite his youth. Han didn’t look any different from how Rey remembered him, and her heart ached a little to see his scruffy hair and bright eyes captured so well. His hand was on Leia’s shoulder, who was seated regally in front of them, her own hand gently encasing Kylo’s. It was an impressive portrait – if not a happy one. 

“So _that’s_ Ben Solo?” Rey murmured. “What happened to him?” 

“Why are you here?” Luke asked, abruptly. Rey blinked. 

“I saw you come in here and I thought –” 

“No, _why_ are you here?” he repeated, turning and facing her for the first time, his eyes piercing under his bushy eyebrows. Rey bit her lip, considering. She could have said something about how the only thing that scared her more than the First Order was letting Leia down, especially after how confidently she had spoken about hope, the exact opposite to how Rey felt about the whole situation. She could have told him about the demon in the mirror, and how she had no idea where Jyn was but that it was probably nowhere good. 

Instead, she thought about how she’d finally been able to reach to Jyn through the mirror, something that she had tried countless times before but never come close to doing, and how she’d been able to push into Kylo’s mind without even knowing _how_ she had done so. 

She hadn’t really considered these things much at the time, but the more she ran through the events in her mind afterwards, the more she realised that she probably shouldn’t have been able to do either of them. 

“Something inside me has always been there,” she began, slowly. “But now it’s awake and I’m afraid. I don’t know what it is or what to do with it, and I need help.” Luke nodded, as if he had known this all along. 

“You need a teacher,” he said. “I can’t teach you.” He began to stride down the corridor away from her. 

“I read Kylo Ren’s mind!” Rey shouted after him. Luke didn’t turn around, but he stopped walking, which Rey took as a good sign, so she ploughed on. “I didn’t even know I could do that! Or if I can do anything else. But I need someone to show me my place in all this.” 

Luke said nothing, but just as Rey was about to give up, he muttered: 

“Next Saturday. Four pm. Ahch-to. Don’t be late,” and walked off.


	8. The Two Left Behind

Rey wasn’t that surprised when she got home from work on Monday to find a meek Rose standing in the hallway, a packed backpack by her feet. But she feigned ignorance anyway, in the hope that she was wrong. 

“Do you have a trip?” she asked. 

“Oh no, you know, I thought I’d go stay with my sister for a couple of days. The council meeting kinda freaked her out and she worries,” Roses shrugged as if it was no big deal, but her voice was too high to be casual and she couldn’t look Rey in the eye. 

“Oh, okay,” Rey said. “When are you coming back?” 

“Ahh I don’t know. In a few days, probably? I haven’t really thought about it,” Rose said vaguely. 

“Right. And you’re sure it’s not about…” Rey nodded towards Kylo’s door. Rose’s half-hearted façade crumbled immediately. 

“I’m sorry Rey,” she said, apologetically. “It’s just… I come home and I am _so stressed_. All the time. It’s not even the headaches, though they suck. He’s just so overwhelming and he’s always there. I can’t escape it. I just… I need some time. You understand, right?” 

“Yes,” Rey said, and now she was the one fighting to keep her voice neutral because she _did_ understand but that didn’t make it any easier to accept. Rose reached her arms out to give her a hug. Rey hesitated for a moment, unwilling to expose Rose to more negative emotions when she was clearly overloaded already, but she soon gave in. 

The two women hugged each other tightly. The reassuring warmth from Rose’s body melted away her irritation, and though Rey couldn’t hide her upset from an empath, she tried to push her feelings of understanding to the forefront of her emotions, so as not to make Rose feel too guilty. 

“If it gets too much,” Rose said. “Promise you’ll come and stay with us.” Rey clamped her mouth shut, not trusting herself to speak for fear that she would plead with Rose to stay, and she couldn’t ask her to do that purely for her sake – not when it was all taking such a toll on her. Instead, she nodded furiously, which seemed to satisfy Rose. 

“You always have a place with us,” she said, before gently detaching herself and picking up her bag. “I gotta go. Paige is picking me up. Please call me – I want to know you’re okay.” 

“I’ll be fine,” Rey choked out, forcing herself to smile, though it probably looked more like a grimace. Despite the solemness of the moment, Rose looked fondly exasperated at Rey's insistence on lying about her feelings, even to her, before giving one last wave and leaving the flat. 

Rose gone meant that there was actually enough space in the bed for Finn and Rey to sleep comfortably. But rather than being a relief, the bed suddenly felt too big, and Rey stayed sandwiched to Finn's back, burying her face between his shoulder blades and holding around him tightly, the way she had used to when they’d first found each other. If Finn minded, he didn’t say. 

She had done it to Jyn too, when she was younger and had had a nightmare. Inevitably, Jyn would wake up, grumbling that Rey’s feet were too cold and that she squirmed too much, but she had never kicked her out to sleep by herself. 

With the memory comfortable in her mind and the sound of Finn snoring softly in her ears, Rey felt her eyelids begin to droop, suddenly impossibly heavy to keep open, as she sank slowly into sleep… 

“ _Stardust..._ ” 

Rey’s eyes snapped open. She was in their hallway by the front door. Or at least, it _looked_ like their hallway, but the apartment was cold and empty, the floorboards freezing beneath her bare feet. From the way the walls glowed with a cool light, she assumed it was daytime. But when she glanced through the door to the kitchen, or the room that she thought was the kitchen but was now completely devoid of any furniture or appliances, the only thing she could see out the window was a grey mist, glittering menacingly at her. 

“ _Stardust..._ ” With a lot of effort than it should have taken, Rey raised her eyes. 

“Jyn!” she whispered. Her foster mother stood at the opposite end of the corridor, looking even more tired and haggard than she had done in the mirror at the Amidala House. She raised her arm towards her. 

“Stardust,” she croaked, the word cracking on her dry lips. Rey ran towards her – or at least she tried to… everything felt heavy, as if she was moving through a thick bog, her limbs slow and reluctant. She fought through anyway, desperately pushing and thrashing her way through the air. She reached her own hand out towards Jyn. 

“Jyn!” she yelled. Sweat broke out on her forehead and she was panting from the effort – but she knew she couldn’t stop. As she got closer, she could make out dried blood around Jyn’s hairline and nostrils, and jagged rips in her clothes. Her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying, and Jyn _never_ cried. “I’m coming!” Rey called to her. “Hold on, I’m coming!” She strained her hand out towards her, managing to brush Jyn’s deathly cold fingertips with her own. A low growl rumbled in her ear. She jerked her head around… 

… Finn snorted loudly, jolting Rey awake. She sat bolt upright, looking around the room wildly, taking note of every stray sock and every bit of personal clutter to assure herself that she was back in their real apartment. Once she was convinced that she was no longer dreaming, she relaxed, waiting for her heart rate to slow. She hadn’t had a nightmare like that for years. It was awful but she supposed that it wasn’t really surprising, considering everything that had been going on the past few weeks. 

Slowly, she lowered herself back onto the pillows next to Finn, wrapping herself around him again, but she didn’t dare try and sleep again, resigning herself to waiting for the sunlight to filter in through the curtains.

**xXx**

“Rey! Someone to see you!” Rey cursed as a drop of oil dripped onto her cheek and rolled herself out from underneath the car she was working on. She hastily wiped at her cheek with a spare rag, trying to look at least a little respectable in case it was one of their rich customers come to grill her about the progress of her work on their expensive car.

Luckily, it was not. 

“Finn? What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised. 

“Having visions of you being crushed by a car,” he said, eyeing the winches that held the car in the air. “This is safe, right?” 

“A lot safer than running into burning buildings on a weekly basis,” Rey quipped, hauling herself to her feet. She rolled her shoulders, which cracked enthusiastically after a couple of hours of confinement. “Everything ok? I don’t think I have time to go out for lunch today…” 

“It’s not about that,” Finn said. He flexed his fingers, a sign that he was resisting the urge to conjure fire in public. Rey waited patiently. 

“Poe came down to see me at the fire station this morning. He thinks we should go stay with him for a while,” he said, eventually. 

“Oh… right,” Rey said, folding her arms. “What do you think about it?” 

“What do you think about it?” 

“I asked you first.” 

“Honestly? I think it’s a really good idea,” Finn admitted. “I can’t stand being there right now.” 

“But what about Leia said at the meeting?” Rey demanded, choosing her words carefully even as her tone got louder. Finn glanced around quickly. All around them drills whirred and welders sparked, but he still lowered his voice.

“What about it? He’s still there, he’s still hidden,” he said. 

“The plan isn’t just to hide him, it’s to redeem him,” Rey hissed. 

“Well why does that have to be us? He’s _her_ son, Rey. If she wants to redeem him, then I get that. But I can’t be expected to do it. Not after everything.” 

“But it’s our home, Finn!” Rey said, desperately. Finn shrugged. 

“It doesn’t feel like home right now. And I know it doesn’t feel like home to you either – I felt you tossing and turning last night. I'll bet you haven't had a decent night's sleep since he arrived,” he looked at her imploringly. “Come with me, Peanut.” Rey wanted to, she really did. A life where she was safe and cared for with Finn and Poe was a life she would happily choose – and a life that they would argue she deserved. But it wasn’t like what she had wanted had ever mattered much before. 

“I can’t let Leia down,” she said, stiffly. “And besides, it’s the closest thing I have to a home. I’m not leaving it… especially not because of him.” 

“Rey –” 

“You can go if you like,” she said abruptly. “I get it, don’t worry.” She headed back under the car, rattling her toolbox and loudly hitting her wrench against the engine to signal that she was done talking. She saw Finn’s feet hesitate for a moment, before turning and walking away. He might have said something to her before he left, but whatever it was, Rey didn’t hear it. 

She threw the wrench away from her in frustration, not caring as her telekinesis gave it an extra boost, sending it soaring far out of her reach. She wrestled to keep her feelings under control, annoyed at Rose and Finn for leaving and simultaneously annoyed at herself for feeling that way. It wasn’t as if their reasons were bad or they’d snuck out on her. They’d even offered for her to go with them. So what was stopping her? 

Or rather, _who_ was stopping her? 

The rage that had been simmering within her surged to the surface, and Rey spent the rest of the day channelling all her insecurities and annoyance and upset into anger, specifically towards Kylo Ren. She nurtured it, worried that if she lost the feeling even for a second, her resolve would break. She was so consumed by it that if someone had asked her how the rest of her day was or how she got home, she wouldn’t have been able to tell them. 

She threw open the front door and stomped down the hallway to Kylo’s door, propelled by her fury. She was too distracted to notice the mild haze of steam in the air or the outline of wet footprints leading from the bathroom to her room. Before she had a chance to hesitate, she flung out her arm. The door swung open violently, hitting the wall with a crunch and rebounding off it. Rey stormed in. 

“We need to talk –“ the words died in her throat, her mind going blank. Kylo was standing by the window, frozen to the spot. He was completely naked, save for a towel around his waist, and from the way he was gripping it, it seemed like he’d been only seconds away from dropping it when Rey had entered. He blinked a few times, his mouth open in shock; for a man who hadn’t been seen in public without a mask for five years, being caught half-naked must have thrown him considerably. 

Not that Rey was faring much better. She looked at his shoulders and his arms and a chill ran down her spine. He was a lot broader than she had expected he would be under his leather getup, and certainly bigger than she ever would have thought the lanky teenager from the painting could grow to be. The last time they'd interacted, she’d been so intimidated by his magic that she hadn’t noticed he could probably crush her with his bare hands. 

“The place is my home,” she began, awkwardly. “And uh… Do you have… a shirt or something you could put on?” He just stared at her blankly. Rey watched a single water drop run down his chest for a few seconds before catching herself. “This place is my home,” she repeated, staring at the wall just behind his head, her mind fumbling for the threads of anger she had spent the majority of the day weaving. “Our home. Mine and Finn’s and Rose’s. Understand?” 

“I had figured as much,” he drawled, giving her a disparaging look. Rey knew she wasn’t expressing herself well, but that look irritated her enough to reignite her temper. She squared her shoulders. 

“Well they’ve left. Because of you,” she said. 

“I haven’t done anything to them.” 

“Yeah, nothing except pretty much run the First Order, the organisation responsible for destroying their lives,” Rey bit back. “Not to mention you threatened Rose with a knife on your second day!” 

Kylo Ren took a couple of steps closer to her and Rey had to resist the urge to step back. A smell she faintly recognised as Rose’s pomegranate bath wash wafted into her nostrils, but that did little to put her at ease. 

“I’ve spent the last ten days stuck in this room, trying to make things better for you and your _friends_ ,” he snarled at her. 

“Well it’s not good enough,” Rey snapped. “We can’t just pretend you’re not here… believe me, we’ve tried. So, if you’re staying her, you need to start being less of a broody man-child and more of normal roommate – you get me?” Finn hadn’t been lying when he had said that Rey had no street cred, and she was probably too small to ever say the words “you get me” with much effect. But Kylo seemed to get the message anyway, and he bent down towards her, his wet hair falling across his face, his shoulders blocking out the red-tinged evening light streaming in through the window. 

“And what do you suggest I do then?” he asked in a whisper that was much more threatening than a yell. 

“You’ve taken _everything_ from us,” Rey growled. “You don’t get to take this too.” She mirrored his actions and leaned in closer too, close enough to see the small cut on his cheek where he had nicked himself shaving, and the thin, white lines of long-healed scars crisscrossing on his chest. “Figure it out,” she told him. Then she whipped around, hoping that the buns in her hair would hit him in the face, and marched out the room, telekinetically slamming the door shut behind her. 

She leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, feeling light-headed from the adrenaline rush. Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes and then immediately opened them again when the image of his bare chest flashed in front of her. Once she felt steady on her feet again, she gathered herself and walked into the kitchen as if everything had gone completely to plan and she was satisfied that she had communicated everything she had wanted in the way that she had wanted to – or at least, that’s what she tried to convince herself. 

She went to the fridge and began to pull out vegetables, not really sure what she was making but desperate for something to occupy herself, and began chopping, trying to cut the slices as thinly as possible, determined not to let her mind wander. 

There was a creak behind her, and Rey jumped – the knife slipping and narrowly missing her finger as she whirled around to see Kylo Ren entering the kitchen and sitting down at the table behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would this even be a Reylo fanfic if Rey didn't walk in on a shirtless Kylo Ren and get extremely flustered?


	9. The New Normal

Rey stared at him for a moment, as if the sight of Kylo Ren sitting at her kitchen table was the strangest thing she’d ever seen – and maybe it was. She’d half-expected him to put his costume back on, but instead he was wearing dark jeans that weren’t quite long enough for him and a dark top that was just a bit too big. He was barefoot, and Rey noticed that the skin on his feet was just as pale as it was on his face. His hair was still wet and created damp patches where it touched his shoulders. He had pushed it out back and out of his face, and Rey could see the faint outline of his ears poking out from just beneath it. It was an unnervingly _normal_ look for him – or maybe it just felt that way in comparison to the helmet. 

“Something wrong?” he asked, scowling at her. 

“No,” Rey said, quickly, turning away. “I hope you like…” she paused, looking at the collection of vegetables on the chopping board in front of her and trying to figure out exactly what she was making. “… stir fry?” she finished, eventually. 

Kylo shrugged but said nothing. Rey returned to cooking, mildly annoyed at his lack of response when she was clearly making an effort, and let a curtain of silence fall between them. She could feel his gaze on her, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up, but every time she glanced at him, he was slouched in his chair, examining his fingers. Still, this did nothing to reassure her, and by the time she went to levitate two bowls to the table, she was so on edge that she misjudged the landing. The bowls caught the table edge, which sent them spinning towards the floor – stopping inches away from impact. With one finger, Kylo lazily directed the bowls back up, setting them down in front of him with a soft clink. 

“Thanks,” Rey muttered. 

“Is your power control always so amateurish?” he asked. Rey glared at him in response and waved her hand. The pan of sizzling stir fry lifted slowly into the air and glided towards the table, lowering firmly onto the heat mat that she gestured beneath it. 

“I guess I was just a bit tense,” she said, looking at him pointedly, as she slid into a chair opposite him, trying hard not to let her knees bump his under the table. Kylo met her eyes, his expression stormy. 

“If you have such a problem with me being here, then why not just let me go?” 

“You think I don’t _want_ to?” Rey demanded. “I can’t. Leia thinks that somehow you can be turned.” Kylo’s eyes widened in surprise and he barked out a laugh. But it wasn’t a nice laugh; it was hollow and degrading and made Rey flush indignantly. 

“Of course she does,” he said, bitterly. “My mother never was one to listen to what I wanted. It’s all about her plans, what she thinks is best… everyone else just has to toe the line.” 

“Why do you hate your parents?” Rey demanded. Kylo scoffed at her but didn’t reply. “Oh no, you’re right, it must be _so awful_ to have parents who love you, who give a damn about you.” Her voice was louder than she had any control over, and everything on the table was starting to lift slowly into the air. But Kylo didn’t yell back. 

“I don’t hate them,” he said quietly. 

“Then why?” 

“Why what?” He looked at her, meeting her wild eyes with his own steady ones, though Rey could see something dangerous lurking just beneath the surface. She hesitated. “Why what, say it.” 

There was a clunk as everything dropped heavily back to the table, the stir fry miraculously managing to stay within the pan. 

“Why did you kill him? I don’t understand,” she said. The “him” hung in the air, the ghost of Han Solo as present as if he had materialised in front of them. 

“No?” Kylo asked. “Your mother left you like you were nothing.” Rey recoiled physically, the blow landing unexpectedly close to home. 

“She didn’t!” she spat. 

“She did,” Kylo pressed, a look of grim satisfaction on he pushed the blade deeper, aware that he had found her weak spot. “She’s not even your real mother. Yet you can’t stop needing her. It’s your greatest weakness. Looking for her everywhere. In Han Solo. Now in Leia.” 

Rey stood up abruptly, seizing a glass of water from the table and tossing it in his face, not even bothering to use her powers. 

“Monster,” she cursed at him, before turning on her heel and storming out the kitchen. She banged into Rose’s bedroom, slamming the door behind her, and threw herself onto the makeshift double bed, now painfully cold and vast. She buried her face in the pillow and screamed, angry tears of frustration soaking the sheets. Leia may have confidence in the plan, but there was no way that Kylo Ren was redeemable and they were all doomed to fall to the First Order. She stayed there motionless, even after the tears had dried up and the anger had burnt out, until sleep eventually snuck in and stole her away… 

… to a hallway in a crude imitation of the apartment she loved so much, with Jyn reaching out desperately towards her… 

**xXx**

Rey thought that she had blown any chance of Kylo Ren’s redemption and that he would just remain shut in his room for the rest of time. To her surprise though, now that he had left the room, he never seemed to be in it. She’d walk into the living room and find him draped over the sofa, his long legs hanging over the edge, or she’d blearily head to the kitchen for coffee in the morning to find that he had already made it. 

They rarely spoke to each other or even acknowledge each other’s presence. Sometimes they’d eat at the kitchen table at the same time, but that was only ever due to coincidence and the fact that Rey would take a cold silence over cold food any day. On the rare occasion they did speak to each other, it was less a conversation and more an exchange of snarls and exasperated sighs, each of them desperate to get the last word in before the interaction finished and the normal stony silence returned. 

Rose and Finn’s absence in the apartment was palpable to Rey, even though both were trying hard to compensate. They never called, perhaps correctly anticipating that she wouldn’t pick up if they did, and instead spammed their group chat, pinging cat videos and quizzes back and forth like ping-pong. Rey didn’t really reply, but at night when she was lying in the big, empty bed, she would scroll through their message history and feel a little less alone. 

The dreams didn’t stop: every night she found herself in the corridor, battling an unseen force to get to Jyn. Sometimes she managed to grab Jyn’s hand, other times she didn’t make it halfway before she heard the low growl in her ear and would bolt awake, panting and sweating as if she had just run a marathon. Jyn’s appearance would change too; sometimes it looked like her wounds were healing – other times she’d have a new black eye or a freshly bloody nose… those were the times when Rey would get the closest to reaching her. 

She knew that she should probably tell someone about them, but she never did. She’d had recurring dreams before – as awful as they were, they were just dreams. However, a small part of her hoped that they were something more, and if they were, then she definitely didn’t want to say anything before she had been able to reach Jyn and talk to her. She knew this was reckless and the Inner Circle would absolutely not consent to it; dream magic was extremely dangerous, and the more you indulged it, the stronger the hold it gained over you. But if there was a chance that she could help Jyn, then she would take it. Besides, she was in the coven safehouse; even if someone was using dream magic, they couldn’t get to her in the apartment. 

So, she kept quiet and didn’t mention it to Leia or Luke – not that Luke was the understanding type anyway. 

She googled “Ahch-To” and found that it was an abandoned space-themed arcade mall that had closed in the mid-eighties, a thirty-minute subway ride away. However, it was deceptively difficult to find and she still ended up being about five minutes late, even though she'd intentionally left earlier than she needed to. 

To be fair, the building was easy to miss: derelict and with peeling paint, it looked exactly like the type of building that you tried hard to avoid. The sign above the entrance had lost a couple of its big, neon letters, so it now read “AHO”, which someone had graffitied into “A-HOLE”. The windows were dirty, and the insides of them had been papered over with old newspapers that featured headlines about Ronald Reagan’s inauguration and how the Miami Dolphins defeated the San Francisco 49ers at the Super Bowl. Rey rubbed at a small section of the window where there seemed to be a gap in the paper, the light blue sleeve of her denim jacket instantly accumulating a thick layer of grime, and tried to peer through, cupping her hands around her eyes and pressing her face as close to the glass as she dared. But the insides were either too dark or the window too dirty for her to see anything. 

She went to the door and paused, unsure if she should knock or not. The door seemed to decide for her, as it suddenly swung noiselessly open. Cautiously, Rey stepped through into the murky darkness. 

The carpet was old and musty, its vibrant pattern long blurred into murky smudges, and Rey felt her sneakers sink into it a little as she crept down the aisles. The newspapers didn't allow much light through and abandoned arcade machines rose out of the gloom around her like tombstones. 

“Hello?” she called, an unbidden tremble in her voice. If this were a horror film, this would _definitely_ be the part where she got murdered by some crazed axe murderer. Just as she was contemplating making the sensible choice and leaving quickly, there was a whirring noise and all the games burst into life around her in a cacophony of electronic beeps and flashing lights. 

Rey yelped in surprise and almost bolted for the door, but as the games settled down to their loading screens, she heard a dry voice say: 

“You found the place alright then?” A shadow moved from behind an old Pac-Man machine as Luke Skywalker stepped in front of her, leaning on his staff. 

“Just about,” she replied, hoarsely. “Do you… _live_ here?” 

“Has someone found you yet?” he asked. Despite her mild disorientation, Rey had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. 

“No,” she said, shortly. “But it would help if I knew who was trying to find me.” 

“Why? They’re the one looking for you,” Luke said, obstinately. “In any case, they’re close. It should be any day now.” 

Rey felt a shiver creep down her spine. 

“Is it… is it Jyn?” she asked, hopefully, her voice cracking a little. Luke pretended not to hear her. 

“So, _Rey Andor_ ,” he said. “What magic can you do?” 

“Magic?” Rey looked confused. “You mean… power? Like my innate power?” 

“I mean what I said.” 

“Well… I can move things… with my mind,” she said, a little clumsily. Luke said nothing, but Rey still felt herself blushing embarrassment at his silent judgement. 

“Bring those two stools over here,” he said, gesturing to a couple of metal stools by some driving simulators. Rey did, grateful for the opportunity to redeem herself, and summoned them to her. Luke sat down on one and indicated for her to sit down in the other, facing him. “Magic is not a power you have. It’s not about _moving things_. It’s the energy between all things, a tension, a balance that binds the universe together. Every witch has a predisposition that allows them to tap into one area of this magic. But very few realise that there is so much more beneath the surface.” 

“Okay,” Rey said, nodding even though she didn't really understand what he was saying. 

“I want you to try and read my mind. Close your eyes. Breathe. Now – reach out to me.” Rey obeyed, stretching her hand out in front of her, planting it firmly on Luke’s shoulder. There was silence for a moment, and she opened one eye to see Luke looking at her, thoroughly unimpressed. She lowered her hand. 

“You meant reach out like…” she tapped her head. 

“Unless you were being literal when you said you read Kylo Ren’s mind, _yes_ ,” Luke said, impatiently. Rey closed her eyes again and focused on sending her telekinesis out to the room around her. “You know how bats navigate in the dark, Rey?” 

“Sound,” Rey muttered. 

“Exactly. They send out sound frequencies that bounce off anything in their path. Think of this in the same way but with your power. Reach out for my mind and when you find it, grab it.” 

Rey wasn't too sure what he meant, but she tried anyway, channelling her telekinesis through her mind the way she did when she tried to move things without her hands, but instead of focusing on a specific item, she let it roll out of her in all directions, like ripples in water. For a moment there was nothing, just darkness. Then suddenly she found it: that same white thread that had led her to Kylo Ren’s mind. She latched onto it quickly, but it didn’t try and retreat, obligingly letting her follow it straight into Luke's head. 

“What do you see?” she heard Luke’s voice ask, his voice muffled as if she were underwater. 

“An old car. A Millennium Falcon Cadillac,” she said, grinning as the image of Han Solo’s old car swam into view. She pushed further, chasing the memory further into Luke’s mind. 

Suddenly, the image blinked out of existence. Rey felt as if a wall had come down directly on her head, as the thread snapped and she was forcibly ejected. She opened her eyes, her vision swimming a little, but she could still make out Luke’s satisfied expression. 

“The hard part isn’t reading someone’s mind,” he said. “The hard part is learning how to keep someone out of your own… or even realising that they’re there in the first place. _That’s_ the lesson.” 

“Okay, so how do I do that?” Rey asked, rubbing her forehead. 

“Next time,” Luke said, getting up abruptly. Rey opened her mouth to argue, but Luke’s expression was set, and even though she hadn’t known him for long, she knew arguing would do no good. Reluctantly, she stood up too, feeling a little dizzy from the movement, and tried to remember if she had passed a drugstore on the way here where she could pick up some painkillers. 

“I knew Jyn Erso,” Luke said, suddenly. Rey looked at him in surprise and was even more surprised to see he was smiling fondly. “Back in the days of the Dark Father. She was a good woman. A good witch. Stubborn and obstinate, sure. But good.” 

“She still is,” Rey corrected him. Luke didn’t argue with her. Somehow that felt worse. 

“She’s the one who gave you the name “Andor” I suppose?” 

“Yeah, she felt that “Erso” might attract too much attention,” Rey nodded. “She wanted me safe.” 

“Smart move,” Luke said, nodding approvingly. “Why “Andor” though?” Rey paused. She hadn’t really thought about it before. 

“I think it’s the name of one of her friends,” she said, slowly, dredging through her memories. “I think it was a tribute to him. He died or went missing… I can’t really remember, and she wouldn’t really talk about it.” Luke grunted. 

“Sometimes things are better left unsaid,” he said. “They’re not worth the heartache.” Jyn’s face, battered and bruised from the previous night’s dream, flickered into Rey’s mind and she was inclined to agree. She was seconds away from telling Luke everything, about her dreams and the mirror, when the arcade powered down, the flashing lights and images blinking out of existence, and Luke disappearing along with them.

**xXx**

“What do you dream about?” Rey looked up from her coffee to see Kylo leaning in the kitchen doorway, his trademark scowl fixed on his forehead. He was looking at her intensely, but his eyes weren’t clouded by their usual shadows, and were bright and curious.

“Who says I dream anything?” she demanded. 

“I feel it. Your panic. Through the wall,” he replied, almost as if it was obvious. 

“Look I’m sorry if I’m disturbing your sleep or something. But it really is none of your business,” she said curtly, pushing past him through the doorway, being sure to knock his shoulder as she went. “I’m late for work.” 

She was actually a little early for work, but she sure as hell wasn’t going back to the apartment, so she got on the bus anyway and hoped that she would be able to find something to do. 

For once, luck seemed to be on her side. 

“There’s a man in the workshop with a bike. Everyone else is busy,” Maz said as soon as she entered, too busy concentrating on manoeuvring a tyre that was at least half as big as she was to say anything more. Rey pulled on her overalls, checked that her hair buns were secure, and went out to find him. 

The workshop floor was crowded, and Rey picked her way through the chaos of cars, car parts and mechanics until she eventually caught sight of a man leaning against a massive Ducati. 

He wasn’t that tall, possibly only a head or so taller than her. He had salt and pepper hair that looked like it was getting close to needing a haircut, and an extremely neat and trimmed goatee. He wasn’t wearing any motorcycle leathers, just an old leather jacket, though there was at least a helmet on the seat next to him. He was frowning slightly, as if concerned about something, but when he noticed Rey approach, his expression smoothed out instantly. 

“Hi,” she held out her hand. “I’m Rey. I’ll be working on your bike if that’s alright with you?” He didn’t look like the type to object to a woman working on his bike, but sometimes people had funny ideas about female mechanics, particularly when it came to their “babies”. 

“Pleasure to meet you,” he said, shaking her hand and smiling at her so warmly that Rey found herself liking him immediately. “I hear from your accent that you’re not from around here either?” he asked. 

“No, I’m not,” Rey said. “My mum was English… I think I get it from her.” 

“Is she still in England?” Rey paused. 

“No,” she said. “So where are you from?” If the man was fazed by this abrupt change of subject, he didn’t show it. 

“Mexico City,” he said. “But I’ve been travelling around America on this girl for a few years. She’s served me well, but she needs some work. So, I figured I’d treat her at the best repair shop in the state.” He smiled again and Rey couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Well, I’d be honoured to work on her – she’s beautiful,” she said, honestly, crouching down to get a closer look at the engine. 

“Actually, I have a bit of a weird request,” the man said. “I don’t know if it’s allowed, but I’d really appreciate it if I could work on her with you from time to time? I won’t get in your way, I just figure that you can teach me some stuff about bikes – and I can teach you some stuff about Kate here,” he gave the seat of the bike an affectionate pat. Normally, Rey would’ve had serious reservations about customers trying to interfere with her work – but this man seemed so earnest and genuine that she didn’t feel worried at all. 

“Ahh, so is that her name? Kate?” she grinned. The man leant forward, cupping each of the bike’s wind mirrors as if they were ears. 

“Technically it’s Kate 2 but I don’t want to make her jealous,” he said. 

“What happened to Kate 1?” Rey asked. The man grimaced a little. 

“Officially, nothing,” he said, tapping his nose. 

“Gotcha, Kate it is!” Rey said, nodding. “I can start work on it now if you’re free?” 

“Ahh unfortunately I have some business to attend to,” the man said, looking genuinely disappointed about it. “But will you be working on it tomorrow? Around 11?” 

“Sure,” Rey said, making a mental note to not do anything significant to the bike until then. 

“Perfect,” the man smiled. “I’ll see you then.” Rey took the bike handles and began to wheel it over to an available workstation. 

“By the way, I forgot to ask – what’s your name…?” But the man had already gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think it's probably fairly obvious who the man is at the end of the chapter, but man I've been looking forward to getting to this part _so much_! Hope you all have a good week!


	10. The Question of Redemption

“You’re not trying hard enough.” 

“I _am_!” Rey insisted through gritted teeth. She was sitting cross-legged on top of the old Donkey Kong machine, her eyes squeezed shut, trying to see which arcade game Luke was standing in front of by reading his mind. So far, she had only been successful three times out of ten, and one of those had been a lucky guess. 

“You need to focus,” Luke said, unhelpfully. “Don’t lose the thread.” Rey obeyed, pouncing on the white spot as soon as it blinked into existence in front of her. There was a jarring sensation in her jaw as Luke kicked her out immediately. “Although, some subtlety never hurt anyone,” he added, dryly. Rey huffed. 

“I definitely knew when Kylo read my thoughts,” she said. “Didn’t make it any easier to stop him.” 

“Kylo Ren _chooses_ to make the experience as unpleasant as possible,” Luke replied, grimly. “He uses it as a form of torture – I’m trying to teach you to use it as a form of espionage. The person whose mind you’re reading should have no idea that you’re even there.” 

“So why doesn’t it feel like tickling whenever you read my thoughts then?” Rey demanded, frustration making her petulant. Luke didn’t speak for a moment and when he did, the voice came from by her feet. 

“How do you normally channel your telekinesis?” 

Rey opened her eyes and looked at the gruff face of the witch standing just below her. “Through my hands.” 

“What about with your mind?” 

“Not really,” Rey shook her head. “I keep trying, but I’m not very good.” 

“Hmm,” Luke said. “Keep trying. Strengthening your mental control of your powers will help you do other things with your mind.” 

Rey nodded and, recognising the finality in his voice, clambered down off the machine and went to get her bag to leave. Luke watched her for a few seconds, arms folded. 

“So, how are things going with my nephew?” he asked, eventually. Rey pulled a face. “That bad, huh?” 

“No, it’s just – he’s just… so…” Rey struggled to find the words, thinking of plenty of things she could say about Kylo Ren, but unsure if she could say them in front of his uncle. Luke seemed to understand anyway. 

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if anyone really expected a boy with Solo and Skywalker blood to be anything but difficult,” he chuckled, darkly. He seemed to be in a good mood, so Rey decided to try asking a question that had been on her mind for a while, but that she knew it would be difficult to get an answer to. 

“How did it happen?” she asked. “How did he become Kylo Ren?” Luke’s face immediately tensed, frozen in place. “I know it’s painful,” she said, quickly. “But how am I meant to redeem him if I don’t know what caused him to turn in the first place?” Luke seemed to consider that for a moment, before inclining his head. 

“Fair point,” he said, leaning against the machine next to him. The lights flashed as he rested on the controls but there was no accompanying sounds or electronic beeping, as if the game wanted to hear the story as much as Rey did. “You know, I’ve never really liked covens. I didn’t grow up in one, and I learned my witchcraft from two Jedi witches. Covens weren't able to stop the Dark Father – if anything, they made it worse. For every witch he took, he gained access to a whole network more. I always thought it was better, _safer_ to be alone. I’m sure Jyn could relate,” he added. Rey shrugged; both Jyn and Luke seemed to have made a point of actively shunning covens – although out of the two of them, Luke was the only one who remained the exception to the kindling rule. 

“When Ben was born, we all knew he was capable of great power. That he might even be a Jedi witch. I thought I could train him outside the coven, as the Jedi witches trained me, and pass on what I knew. Han was… well, Han about it. But Leia… trusted me with her son,” he broke off, staring into space, as if watching the memory play out in front of him. “Maybe if he’d stayed in the coven it wouldn’t have happened. By the time I realised I was no match for the darkness rising in him, it was too late. I went to confront him, but he turned on me. He must have thought I was dead. By the time I came to, he was gone – gone to join the First Order.” 

“But Leia said that Snoke –” 

“Leia _blamed_ Snoke,” Luke corrected her. “But it was me. I failed.” He looked so downcast that Rey reached out before she could stop herself, covering his worn hand with her own. 

“You didn’t fail Kylo. Kylo failed you. I won’t,” she said, determinedly. The corners of Luke’s mouth turned up slightly in a sad approximation of a smile. 

“Just don’t put all your hopes on me, Rey,” he said. “I can’t carry the weight of another lost witch.”

**xXx**

Rey placed a spoon squarely in the middle of the kitchen table and stared at it, willing it to move. While her conversation with Luke hadn’t given her any better an idea of how to redeem Kylo Ren, it had motivated her to work harder on her magic – to not fail him too.

As a mechanic, she kept her nails cut fairly short, but she was clenching her fists so hard that it was starting to hurt where they were digging into her flesh. The spoon began to tremble, tapping frantically against the counter as it lifted jerkily into the air… before clattering down again. 

“You’re trying too hard,” Rey whirled around. Kylo Ren was standing in the doorway, quietly watching her. 

“How long have you been standing there?” she demanded. He ignored her – a family trait, it seemed. 

“How does it feel when you harness your power through your hands?” he asked. Rey raised an eyebrow. 

“Natural,” she said, eventually. “Effortless.” 

“It should feel the same with just your mind,” he said. “It’s become natural for you to use your hands, so you’ve forgotten how to do it consciously.” 

“Great, good to know,” Rey snapped. Kylo didn’t move, looking from her to the spoon and back again, expectantly. “Fine,” she huffed, turning back to the table. 

“Take some deep breaths,” he instructed her. “Focus on drawing the power to where you want it to be. Let it grow there.” Rey started as something brushed against her hands and she glanced down to see Kylo gently but firmly unclenching her fists. “Relax,” he told her, his hands lingering on her wrists. “Don’t force it.” 

Rey had half a mind to jump away and throw him through a wall, but she could feel the power already begin to build in her mind, and the feeling of his touch seemed to anchor her. She forced her focus back to the spoon. It still wasn’t moving but the energy around her was palpable. 

“Deep breath in,” his voice breathed into her ear. She did. “And out…” She did. 

Smoothly, effortlessly, the spoon glided into the air and hung there. Hardly daring to believe it, Rey made the spoon move obediently towards the open kitchen drawer, where it lowered gracefully into its place among the other spoons with a soft _clink_. 

“I did it!” she whispered. “Did you see that? I did it!” she turned to face Kylo, a triumphant grin spreading across her face. 

He was standing a lot closer than she had expected him to be, gazing down at her thoughtfully. Rey didn’t know whether it was from no longer wearing that ridiculous helmet or whether he was getting more rest or what, but his face didn’t look as thin and mean as it had before. His cheeks were fuller, his nose more in proportion with his face. She _could_ see Han Solo in him, she realised, in his dark eyebrows, his high cheekbones, even in the way his hair curled around his forehead. 

She suddenly became aware of the fact that she was probably staring and dropped her gaze self-consciously. It was then she noticed that one of his hands was still gently encircling her wrist, his palm resting lightly on the back of her hand, his thumb hooked around her palm. Once she’d seen it, she didn’t know how she had managed to ignore it and she stepped back abruptly, jerking her hand away. Kylo let her go easily. 

“You need a teacher,” he observed. Rey shuffled, awkwardly. The air on her skin that had been covered by his hand felt cold. 

“I have a teacher,” she replied, stiffly. 

“Not _Skywalker_ ,” he spat, and Rey was mildly surprised that he knew – she hadn’t told him. “Someone else. Someone who isn’t afraid of your potential, won’t try to control it.” 

“Sometimes control is a good thing,” she said, pointedly. Kylo snorted, the hard look returning to his eyes as he sneered. 

“You know who believes that? People who are afraid or weak. Which are you?” Rey bristled immediately. 

“I don’t think I’m the one who’s afraid,” she said. “I’ve been inside your head, remember?” 

“And I’ve been inside yours,” he countered. They glared at each other; the normal hostility between them fully restored. “Did he tell you what happened that night? The night I became Kylo Ren, did he tell you why?” 

“I know everything I need to know about you,” Rey scoffed, folding her arms. 

“You do?” he stepped towards her menacingly, but she knew this routine too well by now to be intimidated. “Oh, you do. You have that look in your eyes. From when you called me a monster.” 

“You _are_ a monster,” she retorted, unforgivingly. He blinked for a second, looking a little taken aback by the conviction in her voice. Rey shuffled, almost regretting having said it. But his expression quickly hardened again. 

“Yes I am,” he growled, before turning on his heel and stalking out the room. Rey heard the door to his bedroom slam a few seconds later..

**xXx**

Leia came to visit the next day, a basket of freshly baked muffins under her arm. Rey stayed in the kitchen, munching on a chocolate chip one and trying not to listen to the sound of Leia knocking on Kylo’s firmly shut door to no avail.

“I suppose I should just be grateful that the apartment is still standing,” Leia grumbled, when she gave up on trying to make Kylo come out. “Can I give you a lift to work, Rey?” 

Rey accepted immediately; the weather had taken a turn for the colder, which meant that she shivered while waiting at the bus stop and became far too hot the second she boarded the overcrowded bus. 

Leia led the way down the stairs to her waiting car outside, opening the door for Rey before Holdo had a chance to move. Rey hesitated, feeling a little awkward at the gesture but clambered in quickly. Leia slid in gracefully next to her and Holdo pulled into the traffic. 

“Dameron tells me that Finn and Rose moved out,” Leia said. “I think he was hinting that I recommend that you move out too.” She looked at Rey over the rims of her designer glasses. “Rey, I hope you know that you don’t need my permission to leave if you feel uncomfortable?” Rey shrugged. 

“It’s my home,” she mumbled. 

“There haven’t been any more… incidents?” Leia pressed. 

“No… well, not really,” Rey said. “We argue a lot.” Leia almost looked relieved. 

“Well, that’s progress at least,” she commented. 

“Sure, if you consider the human decency of being able to talk to someone without threatening them progress,” Rey said, before she could stop herself. “I’m sorry –” she began, blushing as she remembered that she was talking to Kylo’s mother, but Leia raised a hand. 

“No, you’re right – the bar is low,” she agreed. “But the road to redemption is paved with frustratingly slow progress and petty arguments… or so I’ve heard.” She lowered her voice, leaning in towards Rey. “We can still save him.” 

“But how?” Rey asked. “I know we’re meant to redeem him, but I don’t know how to do that. Every time we talk, we end up fighting. He’s… he’s…” 

“A stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder?” Leia suggested. 

“Exactly… wait, what’s a nerf herder?” 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Leia said. “It’s what I called Han when we first met. I think I just got so frustrated that I couldn’t think of any real words, and nerf herder just popped into my head. Han never let me forget it.” Rey smiled despite herself; she could only imagine Han’s reaction to being called a nerf herder. 

“But Leia… I don't think Kylo and I are like you and Han Solo,” she replied, cautiously. 

“You may be right,” Leia conceded, nodding. “But the boy is far more like his father than either of them would ever have admitted. That’s how I know, despite everything, there’s still light in him.” Rey’s immediate reaction was scepticism, but then she remembered how Ben’s face had looked in the kitchen, and the resemblance to Han Solo that had flickered across his features, and for the first time, a spark of hope blinked into existence within her. Ever the mind reader, Leia looked at her knowingly but didn’t say anything until Holdo pulled up outside Takodana. 

“Thank you for the lift,” Rey said, opening her door. 

“You’re welcome,” Leia smiled. Rey got out swiftly, cars already beginning to honk their horns from the brief obstruction that Holdo was causing, and shut the door. “Oh and Rey!” Leia called, rolling down her window. “His favourite ice-cream is caramel.” Rey looked at her, confused as to what she was meant to do with that information, but Leia didn’t offer any further explanation and Holdo was already pulling away from the curb.

**xXx**

“Do you think anyone can be redeemed? Even if they’ve done something really bad?” Rey asked the man later that day, while they were changing Kate’s brake fluid. The man pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked at her, quizzically. He had dropped into Takodana every day since he had first arrived, sometimes to work on the bike, sometimes for only ten minutes. She still didn’t know his name, and it felt far too awkward to ask now. Despite that, however, she felt as if she had known him for a long time.

From the way the man acted, it was clear that he felt the same, as he did things for her that people just didn't do for their mechanics. One particularly cold day, he had noticed that her hands were almost red raw from working with cold metals and had turned up the next day with some slim, fingerless gloves. Another time, he had found out that she had not eaten breakfast and left specifically to get food for her, standing over her until she had eaten it all. He never expected anything in return or asked anything from her – it was just as if he wanted to show that cared, and Rey, who had long stopped expecting anyone to care for her, appreciated it immensely. 

“Is this your way of telling me that you’re actually a bank robber?” he asked, wryly. 

“No, banks get too much attention. I stick to 7-elevens,” she replied. 

“Figures,” the man replied, rocking back on his heels and wiping his oily hands on a spare cloth. “How bad are we talking?” Rey bit her lip, unsure of how to phrase it without using the words _evil witch overlord_. 

“Just… bad. Very bad,” she said, eventually. The man looked thoughtful, his brow furrowing as he considered. 

“I don't think it's not possible,” he said, carefully. “But the hardest part is getting whoever it is to believe that they’re even worthy of redemption in the first part.” 

“How do you do that?” Rey asked. 

“You ask tough questions, _mija_ ,” the man admitted. “I’m not sure I have the answers you’re looking for, but someone once told me that trust goes both ways. You want them to open up to you – you have to give them something too.” Rey nodded, as she considered his words. 

“Sounds like a wise someone,” she said. 

“She is. You remind me of her a lot.” 

“Really? In what way?” 

“In all the ways that matter.”

**xXx**

The muffins were cold and untouched when Rey got home, and Kylo’s door was still firmly closed. With the man’s words in her mind, she went over and knocked, loudly.

“Kylo?” she called. Predictably, there was no response. Rey frowned and knocked again. “I’m coming in!” She waited a few seconds before opening the door, unwilling to have a repeat of the last time she had barged into his room. Kylo was sprawled on what had been her bed, his legs curled beneath him so that they didn’t hang over the edge, his head buried in one of her old paperbacks. She expected him to reject to her intrusion in some way, but he didn’t even look up. 

“I’m going to the shop to get ice-cream,” she announced. 

“Okay,” he muttered, pointedly keeping his gaze fixated on his page, although Rey doubted that he was still reading. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to come with me? It’s only a couple of blocks away!” she added, quickly, as Kylo’s head shot up to look at her, surprise written all over his face. “Obviously you’d have to wear a disguise. And I’d use a binding spell so you wouldn’t be able to run away. But I just figured that you might appreciate the fresh air after being cooped up in here for weeks…” she trailed off. 

“I… I would appreciate that,” Kylo said, carefully. He closed his book and got up, unfolding his long limbs out from underneath him. He stretched and Rey tried not to notice the way his top rose up from his stomach a little. “What sort of disguise did you have in mind?” he asked, with thinly veiled eagerness. Rey grinned.

**xXx**

“If anyone asks, your name is Matt and you’re a radar technician,” she said, fixing a pair of fake aviator-frame glasses on his face and stepping back, satisfied with her work. Kylo glared at her from beneath his new, blonde locks, his excitement at the prospect of going outside having become progressively muted since Rey had hauled out their leftover costume box from a party they’d had a year or so ago.

“And why would anyone ask me that?” he demanded. 

“Always good to have a cover story,” Rey said, unable to keep the glee from her voice. 

“You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” he growled. 

“Oh absolutely,” Rey said, nodding enthusiastically. Kylo groaned and went to rip the wig off, but Rey stopped him, freezing his hand in the air with one look. He looked at her, bemused. 

“You’ve gotten better.” 

“I’ve been practising,” she said. “Now, do you want to go outside or not?” Kylo rolled his eyes but nodded, and Rey let his hand drop to his side. 

“Yes,” he muttered. “But I look ridiculous.” 

“That’s the whole point, it’s a _disguise_ ,” Rey told him. She held out her hand towards him, a small, pressed begonia flower resting on her palm. “The begonia’s a symbol of connection,” she said, mechanically, as if reciting a passage from a book. “The only way you can get free is if I let you go.” 

“If you say so,” Kylo said, his hand encasing hers completely. Rey swung it a little, trying to get used to the weight of it, and led him out of the apartment and onto the street below. 

The New York air hardly had a reputation for being clean. It always felt heavy in Rey’s lungs, particularly in winter, when the cold seemed to thicken it considerably. Yet Kylo inhaled deeply, as if he had just stepped onto a mountain range in Norway. Rey kept a tight grip on his hand, worried that he might try and wrench himself free or make a break for it – not that she would be able to stop him from dragging her down the street if he did. But he walked next to her casually, his long footsteps lazily keeping pace with her quick, short ones, their joined hands dangling between them. 

They made it to the store and Rey headed straight for the freezer. She pulled out a chocolate one for herself and thrust it at Kylo to hold, before diving back in and grabbing a caramel one. She showed it to him. 

“It’s your favourite, right?” she asked. He blinked in surprise, but nodded. They headed to the check-out and placed the ice-creams on the counter in front of the cashier, a bad-tempered, middle-aged man named Abe. 

“You know it’s October?” he asked. 

“Yup,” Rey said, popping the “p”. She had forgotten how grumpy the guy was when Poe wasn’t there to sweet talk him. She went to dig a bill out of her pocket, realised that she couldn’t let go of Kylo’s hand, and was forced to awkwardly reach across her body with her free hand. 

“Why don’t you just stop holding hands?” Abe asked. 

“Ah it’s okay, I got it,” Rey said, twisting a little to try and get a better reach. 

“What, scared he’s gonna run away if you let go?” he pressed. Rey ignored him, but the guy clearly was having a bad day and determined to spread the energy around. “Hey buddy, you need help getting away?” He winked at Kylo, expecting to find an ally in belittling Rey. To his surprise, he did not find one. 

“Back off,” Kylo growled, managing to look suitably threatening even in his ridiculous blonde wig. Abe recoiled visibly, before shrugging and huffing. Rey finally wrestled the crumpled bill out of her pocket and slammed it on the counter. Abe took it and made a big show of smoothing it and holding it up to the light, before finally ringing it up on the till, practically throwing the change back at her. She felt Kylo’s hand twitch dangerously in hers, quickly gathered up the change and her ice-cream, and dragged him out of the store, yelling “Have a nice day!” over her shoulder. 

“Why did you let him talk to you like that?” Kylo demanded, the second they were outside. 

“What?” Rey asked, confused by the question. 

“You and I both know that you could’ve taken that man,” he hissed, his cheeks flushed with anger. “He has no right to treat you that way!” 

“He treats everyone that way, he’s just a grumpy old bastard. It’s nothing personal,” Rey said, impatiently, but Kylo wasn’t listening, fully committed to his outrage. 

“Dammit Rey, you can do things that that asshole can’t even dream of doing,” he seethed. “You should have taught him a lesson!” 

“Yeah sure,” Rey scoffed. “And expose witchcraft _and_ kick-start the witch hunts at the same time?” 

“Like anyone would believe him if he said anything.” 

“Would they believe the video cameras?” she demanded. “Look, even if I did use my powers on him, what good would that have done in the long run? The world’s full of arseholes – being an arsehole yourself won’t change that.” Kylo didn’t respond, although Rey could tell that he wanted to, his lips pressed into a thin line with the effort of keeping his mouth shut. This wasn’t just anger for the sake of anger, she realised, he was really bothered by this. “Hey,” she said, her voice softer. The change in tone must have been unexpected enough to break through the red mist, as his expression softened a little. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” She pulled on his hand, squeezing lightly. “Come on, let’s go home.” Kylo hesitated, but then moved, falling into step next to her, holding her hand as tightly as if he were drowning and Rey was his only lifeline.

**xXx**

They pulled up two chairs to the living room window and ate their ice-cream with their feet resting on the radiator beneath the windowsill, the street outside being slowly stained in oranges and purples from the sunset.

Kylo slurped and licked at his ice-cream with all the enthusiasm of a child rather than the composure of an adult man. Some of it ended up on his nose and Rey giggled a little. He looked at her, confused, before realising and wiping it off. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, embarrassed. “I haven’t had one of these in a while.” 

“Nothing to apologise for,” Rey said. “Must be a long time since you had an ice-cream, huh?” 

“Probably. My dad used to take me for ice-cream whenever I was struggling with school or my mum’s work was getting too hectic… but that was a long time ago,” he said. Rey recognised the dark storm gathering behind his eyes and moved quickly to stop it. 

“Jyn gave me a lot of ice-cream when I was younger. I don’t think she was prepared to look after me all by herself, and I guess she just figured that kids like ice-cream. So, any time I was upset, about anything, she’d just buy me ice-cream. And for a while, it worked… until I ate too much and threw up everywhere. She dialled back on the ice-cream after that.” Rey was rambling, she knew that – but Kylo didn’t seem to mind too much, and his eyes remained bright and clear. 

“How did you end up with her?” he asked. “What happened to your other parents?” Rey shuffled uncomfortably; her instinct was to shrug the question off and change the subject. She hadn’t shared this part of her life with many people at all, and talking about it felt strangely intimate. 

_Trust goes both ways._

“I don’t remember,” she said, honestly, staring at the number plate of a car parked outside. “I think we were maybe part of a coven at some point… But then something must have happened because it’s just been me and Jyn for as long as I can remember. Well… before she disappeared anyway.” She glanced at Kylo, expecting to be met with scoffing or sneering dismissal. But he just looked solemn, listening intently. 

“And you never asked?” 

“She never wanted to talk about it. And honestly… I wasn’t too worried about knowing. I didn’t want other parents. I just wanted to be Rey Erso,” she said. 

“I understand,” he said, and Rey believed him; he had wanted to be Kylo Ren, after all – however, bad Kylo Ren was. “How did you end up here?” 

“I was alone for a while,” she said. “And then I met Finn, and we were on the streets together for a while, stealing food, keeping each other safe at night. Then one night, we were trying to break into a car to have somewhere to sleep for the night and we were caught by Han… it was his car,” she admitted, a little guiltily. “He took us in and when he realised that we were witches, he introduced us to Leia and she accepted us into the coven.” 

“Sounds like something they would do,” Kylo muttered, his expression not changing, but the stillness was almost as telling as his trademark glower. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Rey asked. He nodded, albeit a little cautiously - although she recognised that just because he had agreed to her asking a question, didn’t mean that he had agreed to answer it. 

“Why did you reach out to Leia?” Kylo leant back in his chair, which creaked threateningly beneath him, placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. Rey waited, patiently, but as the seconds ticked by and he didn’t move, she began to get discouraged: kicking herself mentally, both for asking the question in the first place and for being so vulnerable with him when he clearly had no intention of doing the same. 

“I had a dream,” he mumbled, so quietly that Rey struggled to hear him. “A few nights before I came here.” 

“What about?” 

“My grandmother,” he said. His lips were barely moving and his voice sounded tight, as if it was taking a lot of effort to force the words out. “She died before I was born, but I knew it was her. She spoke to me. Told me that she knew there was still good in me. I didn’t believe her. But then she asked me to talk to Leia and I just… I missed…” his hands fell from his head, hanging limply by his sides. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t go back to her now.” 

He sounded sad – sadder than Rey would’ve thought him capable of ever sounding. She found herself wanting to comfort him, reassure him – but she didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t tell him that the things he had done didn’t matter because they did, and he had hurt a lot of people. But for the first time, she felt like she truly was seeing the man behind the mask. 

So this was Ben Solo. 

She leant back in her chair too, letting her own hand fall next to his. Tentatively, she moved her hand closer, brushing her fingers against his. She didn’t look at him so she couldn’t tell if he minded or not, but he didn’t move his hand away, so she left it there, resting softly against his. 

They stayed there long after the sky had deepened to a deep indigo outside, joined together by a timid gesture of compassion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will someone pls give Rey a copy of "Redeeming Brooding Villians for Dummies", because the poor girl feels way out of her depth rn (but she's doing a very good job, regardless!) :)


	11. The Dangers of Dreaming

Rey stood next to Kate outside Takodana, waiting for the man to settle the bill with Maz. The bike looked better than it probably had done in years; the shining new paintwork an apt reflection of the shining in Rey’s eyes as she blinked back tears. _Get a grip_ , she told herself, impatiently. _He’s basically a stranger_. But the sharp pang she felt when he came out of the building and walked towards her told her that that was not entirely true. 

“I hope Maz didn’t overcharge you on those new tyres!” she called, forcing herself to sound light and jovial. 

“Ahh it only cost me my soul,” he returned. “But hey, worth it if they save my life, right?” 

“Speaking of saving your life – promise me you’ll buy some motorcycle leathers,” she said, thrusting his helmet at him and trying to sound stern. 

“Don’t worry about me _mija_ ,” he grinned, chucking her under the chin. “Kate’s pretty good at keeping me safe.” 

“Yeah well, it’s not necessarily Kate that’ll kill you,” Rey pointed out. 

“Fair point!” the man conceded. “Alright _mija_ , I promise.” 

“Thank you,” Rey smiled. They hovered awkwardly, shuffling around each other as they both tried to figure out how to say goodbye. Then the man gingerly opened his arms – and Rey stepped into them. 

She had always been a clingy child, constantly desperate for reassurance. Looking back, it was evident that comforting her hadn’t always come naturally to Jyn, who was more likely to punch a person than shake their hand, and that she had been relieved when Rey had grown older and more self-secure. Yet despite her awkwardness, Jyn had always hugged her in the exact same way: tightly, with one hand coming to rest just below her neck, as if supporting the head of a baby. It was a hug that was as comforting in its consistency as it was in its firmness. 

So it caught Rey completely off-guard that this man hugged her in exactly the same way: replicating so naturally what Jyn had spent years practising. The memory was so unexpected and so overwhelming that she buried her face in his shoulder, forgetting her apprehensions, forgetting that she didn’t even know his _name_ , and chased the comfort that she had spent the last five years missing. The man squeezed her gently, one hand rubbing her back, soothingly. A distinct smell of honey clung to his jacket beneath the layers of leather and petrol; a smell that Rey recognised but couldn’t quite place. 

Eventually, they broke apart, and Rey was embarrassed that the tears had started to spill, although when she looked at him, she saw that his cheeks were also wet. He placed her hands on her shoulders. 

“Your mother would be proud of you, Rey,” he told her, sincerely. Then he kissed her quickly on the cheek, pulled on his helmet and climbed onto Kate. He revved the bike a couple of times, the engine roaring gloriously, before speeding smoothly onto the road and down the street. 

Rey watched him go, hugging her arms around herself, trying to preserve the feeling of safety for just a little while longer. It was only when he had disappeared out of sight that she roughly wiped her eyes and headed back inside. 

“Hey Rey, can you thank your dad the next time you see him? He left a very generous tip!” the guy at reception asked. Rey blinked, thrown by the question and the casual way it had been asked. 

“He’s not my dad,” she said. 

“Oh? Your uncle?” 

“No – just a customer,” she said, firmly. The receptionist looked mildly confused. 

“Huh, I just figured considering how he was with you and the fact you have the same name –” His words slammed into Rey, knocking all the air out of her lungs. 

“– what?” she managed to bark out. 

“You name? It’s the same,” the receptionist said, gesturing to his clipboard. There was a roaring in her ears so loud that she barely heard him as she seized the clipboard and stared at the form. All the words seemed to blur into one as she scanned it frantically, but sure enough, at the bottom in extremely neat and clear handwriting was a name: 

_Cassian Andor._

**xXx**

Rey burst into Ahch-To wildly, the doors flying open for her at a mere nod of her head. She tore through the place, searching for any sign of her mentor. The arcade remained dark and silent, but there was a soft light emitting from the small room at the back, which presumably used to be the manager’s office. She didn’t even bother using her magic to open the door, and bodily threw herself against it, the old lock giving away easily.

Luke was meditating in the middle of the room, hovering a few feet in the air. He jumped violently when Rey burst in, nearly crashing to the floor in shock. 

“Jesus, Rey!” he cursed, just managing to uncross his legs in time to land on his feet, staggering a little. “Haven’t you heard of knocking?” 

“Someone found me!” she gasped, clutching at a stitch in her side, a bead of sweat running down her nose. Luke looked annoyed but unsurprised. 

“About time,” he grumbled. He went over to an old wooden desk, which was by far the biggest and sturdiest piece of furniture in the room, and bent down to open a mini fridge under it. He pulled out a bottle of milk that had a vaguely blueish tinge to it and handed it to her. “How is Cassian anyway?” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded. 

“Would you have known who he was if I had? Do you even know now?” Luke asked, impatiently. 

“I know he knows Jyn,” Rey said, stubbornly. “She gave me his _name_ – that must mean something!” 

“Pfft, name-shmame. What’s in a name?” Luke said, coarsely. “I only saw that he was looking for you – I didn’t know why. I figured telling you was his business.” 

“But he didn’t tell me!” Rey said. “I only found out who he was after he was gone!” Her breathing wasn’t slowing down – if anything, it was getting faster, and her hands were beginning to shake, Luke’s furniture along with them. 

Luke glanced around the room and sighed, heavily. 

“Okay, okay,” he said, gruffly, firmly but gently guiding her to sit down on a neatly-made camp bed in the corner. “Take it easy. Drink your milk.” He crouched down in front of her, unscrewing the bottle cap and holding it to her lips. Rey grabbed it and took several gulps. The milk was thick and sweet, and had a soothing coolness as it slipped down her throat. “Look, I don’t know Cassian very well, but I _do_ know that he isn’t one to just disappear off into the sunset. He’s probably around somewhere.” 

“But he could’ve helped me,” Rey insisted. She was still breathing a little too fast, but at least the furniture had stopped moving. “He could’ve helped me save Jyn!” 

“Jyn? Rey, Jyn’s been missing for five years, no one knows where she is –” 

“That’s not true, _I_ know where she is! I’ve seen her!” Rey interrupted him. Luke froze, the mild irritation etched on his face melting into graveness. 

“What are you talking about?” he asked. 

“I have these dreams,” Rey said. “Always the same one. I’m in the apartment – but it’s not the apartment, it’s… cold and empty. And Jyn’s there and I keep trying to get to her but I always wake up before…” she trailed off, expecting him to scoff and dismiss her. Instead, he grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her roughly to her feet. 

“Show me,” he said, urgently, taking the bottle out of her hands. “Show me everything – and I mean _everything_ – you remember about seeing Jyn.” 

“How do I do that?” Rey asked, confused. Luke placed his hands on either side of her head, his thumbs meeting in the middle of her temple. 

“Just close your eyes and remember,” he said. So she did. She remembered everything so vividly it was like she was reliving it. She remembered going to the Amidala House and seeing Jyn in the mirror. She remembered trying to contact Jyn with Rose, Finn and Poe, and being grabbed by that unknown claw in the mirror. She remembered her dreams, snapshots from past nights combining with the more recent ones, before she came to the dream from the night before. 

It had been one of those times where she had almost reached Jyn. Her foster mother had looked particularly beaten, with one side of her face so swollen that it was almost double the size of the other. Rey had reached out to her, Jyn only a hair's width away before she had woken up.

… her hand clasped around Jyn’s shoulder. Rey blinked. 

“Is this part of the memory too?” she heard Luke’s voice echo from somewhere within her own head. 

_No, this is new_ , Rey thought. For a second she was frozen, surprise rendering her immobile – but then the realisation that she was still holding onto Jyn, who was actually in front of her, shivering madly but solid and real, burst through the stupefying fog in her mind. She grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug, as forcefully as if she were trying to physically pull her back into the real world with her. Her mind buzzed with a million different things that she had ever wanted to say to Jyn when she found her again – and yet, none of them seemed to accurately express how she was feeling right now. 

“Jyn!” she gasped. “Jyn, it’s me! It’s Rey! I’ve got you!” 

But Jyn barely acknowledged her presence, and Rey felt the relief that had flooded through her turn to worry, as Jyn's full weight leaned heavily against her. She gently pushed her away, trying to see her face. 

"Jyn? Jyn! Where are you?" she asked, desperately. "Tell me where you are, and I'll come get you!" Jyn didn't respond, her head slumping forward. _Luke! Luke what should we do?_ Rey thought, looking around the barren hallway wildly, hoping to find something, anything that could help her. 

“There’s nothing we can do – you need to come back!” Luke told her. Rey ignored him. She had never got this far in the dream before, but now she was here, she saw that the door to the living room was wide open next to her. Unlike the other rooms, it wasn’t empty. 

Standing erect in the middle of the floor was Rose’ s vanity mirror, the glass surface a swirling, intrusive black. 

“There’s something else,” she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. “It’s… calling me.” 

“Resist it Rey!” She could hear the panic in Luke’s voice – but he sounded too far away for Rey to care about that very much. The _mirror_ was what mattered here - not Luke. She felt her body begin to move towards it, more automatically than consciously, as if the mirror was a star and she was just caught in its gravity, unable to do anything but obey its pull. She could vaguely hear Luke shouting her name, but it felt so detached from herself. Was it even her name? Did she even have a name? 

Then she felt hands scrabbling weakly at her. 

“Stardust?” The sound of Jyn’s voice knocked Rey out of her trance enough that she managed to tear her gaze away from the mirror. Jyn lifted her head awkwardly, tilting it so that the eye that wasn't swollen shut looked at her, blearily. "Stardust," she repeated, placing her hands on Rey's chest - before giving her a harsh push.

Rey unbalanced and fell backwards, landing heavily on her back as long, black claws shot out from the doorway, raking at the floorboards where she had just been. Rey stared at them in shock, and something grabbed the back of her collar. She yelped and whirled around. 

It was Luke; wild-eyed and pale-faced, his skin the same ashen grey that ran through his beard. 

She was back in the office at Ahch-To. He let go of her, abruptly. 

“You went straight to the dark,” he said. Rey tried to stand, grabbing at the desk for support as she hauled herself to her feet, her legs shaking far too much to be of any use by themselves. 

“The mirror,” she muttered. “It was trying to show me something.” 

“Rey, for god’s sake don’t you get it? This is _dream magic_ ,” Luke said, exasperation lacing his fear. “It’s trying to lure you in by offering something you need. And you didn’t even try to stop yourself.” He backed away from her, staring at her like she was some kind of wild animal. Rey reached for the milk, her mouth dry, and took a drink. She spat it out again immediately; it had turned sour in her mouth. 

“But whoever it is has Jyn!” she said. “If I can just get to her –” 

“You can’t!” Luke yelled, his eyes blazing. “Whoever is doing this is using her as bait. They’re not going to let you get to Jyn! They’re just letting you get close enough that you keep going back! The only thing you can do is stop having these dreams – both for her sake and your own!” 

“But why does someone even want me in the first place?” Rey demanded, loudly, matching his energy with her own. “Or is this something else you’re not telling me?” The fire went out in Luke’s eyes, extinguished by remorse. 

“You need to leave Rey,” he said, quietly. 

“What?” she deflated, caught off guard. 

“I can’t teach you anymore.” 

“But… why?” 

“I’ve seen this raw strength only once before. In Ben Solo. It didn’t scare me enough then. It does now.” And without another word, he hurried out the room, leaving Rey alone. She stared at the door he had just disappeared through, leaning against the desk, before the light turned out and darkness closed in around her.

**xXx**

Rey opened the front door slowly and crept through it as quietly as she could. She closed it behind her with a soft click, before leaning against it and sliding down onto the floor. She could hear sounds in the kitchen and hoped Kylo hadn’t heard her come in, wanting to be left alone to process her feelings for a little while longer.

But he had heard, and came padding out into the hallway to greet her, Finn’s novelty apron with the words Flamin’ Hot emblazoned on the front tied securely around him and clutching a wooden spoon in his hand. It looked so out of character for him that, under different circumstances, Rey probably would have laughed. 

“Hey, listen, I hope you weren’t saving the tomatoes for anything…” he trailed off when he saw her on the floor. “Uhh… are you okay?” he asked, his forehead creasing into its natural frown. “Did something happen?” Rey almost did laugh at that - so much had happened that she had no idea how to even begin talking about it. 

“No… it’s just… I’ve never felt so alone,” she said, instead. Kylo shifted the wooden spoon in his hands, looking agitated. Then, without speaking, he joined her on the floor. Rey was surprised but appreciated the gesture nonetheless, shifting over a little to make room for his torso as he squeezed down next to her. 

They sat for a little while, pressed against each other, his long legs stretching out far beyond her own. Slowly, Rey let her head fall until it came to rest on his shoulder. Kylo let her cry on him, her tears soaking into his t-shirt sleeve. 

“You’re not alone,” he said, gruffly. Rey hiccuped and looked up at him. He was staring determinedly ahead, clutching the spoon tight enough that his knuckles had turned an even paler shade of white. 

“Neither are you,” she said.

**xXx**

A few hours later, Rey lay in bed, staring at the darkness of ceiling, exhausted by the entire day but terrified of sleeping.

She turned her head towards the wall, imagining Kylo lying just on the other side of it. Up to that point, she’d tried to sleep as far away from that side of the room as possible, repulsed by the thought of him being so close. But tonight, she got out of bed and used her powers to soundlessly move it right up against the wall. She clambered back between the sheets and pressed against the wall, the cool, rough plaster scraping against her skin. She paused for a moment, feeling oddly self-conscious of her actions, although there was no indication from the other side that he knew what she was doing. 

Rey took a deep breath and closed her eyes, reaching out towards him. She found his mind easily enough, the thread bright and gleaming in the darkness. Trying to be as gentle as she could, she took it. His mind jumped in surprise at the contact and immediately began to pull away. Rey didn’t attempt to push forward into his mind, but held on firmly to her end of the thread, sending soothing thoughts and intentions down it towards him. 

Eventually, she felt his mind still, waiting cautiously to see what she wanted. She showed him rather than told him how she was feeling: her loneliness, her feelings of rejection, her conflict about her dreams… all of it flowed freely down the connection between them. He absorbed them all, letting them pass into his own mind without resistance. Once she was finished, Rey held her breath, worried that she had overwhelmed him and preparing herself for the pain of being forcibly ejected from his head. 

Instead, she felt warmth flood back towards her, surging forward all at once before pulling back a little tentatively. Despite its clumsiness, Rey accepted it all gratefully. 

_You’re not alone._

_Neither are you._

Rey felt the thread slip out of her grasp as sleep began to overtake her, but the connection remained, filling her head with wordless reassurance and comfort. 

For the first time in a long time, Rey slept deeply and dreamlessly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry this is a late - this week has been a bit manic! Sorry too for any mistakes that I've missed - I'll try and go back through it sometime this week and make any more changes, but it got to the point where I just wanted to get the chapter out. :) 
> 
> Hope you're all well and safe! Remember to cough into your elbow and wash your hands regularly! <3


	12. The Winter of our Discontent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this update is a little late - my country is currently quarantined due to corona and you would think that would leave me with more time for writing, but I've actually been struggling to find the time for one reason or another!  
> Hope you're all staying strong and/or healthy! I know that corona is making a lot of people's lives difficult right now for various reasons but just hang in there and remember:  
> a) wash your hands frequently  
> b) sneeze into your elbow  
> c) stay inside as much as possible  
> d) this will all pass 
> 
> <3

Rey woke the next morning feeling refreshed and full of resolve. She could still sense the connection with Kylo running in the background, his mind purring softly like a well-oiled engine as he slept. 

She lay there for a moment, appreciating how different and _light_ his thoughts felt when he wasn't awake. Then she carefully broke the link between them, pulled on her workout clothes, grabbed Rose's spare yoga mat and headed out to the gym. 

Rose taught six yoga classes a day from Monday to Friday and the occasional weekend class too. Most people reacted with surprise when they found out just how much yoga she did, but it was a win-win situation for Rose. Her empath abilities made her an excellent teacher, and in return, the classes gave her some respite from the constant bombardment of other people's turbulent emotions. As supportive friends, Finn and Rey had attended each of the classes at least once - except for the 6 am one... and Rose knew both of them well enough to expect to see them there. 

Today, however, Rey strode brightly through the yoga studio's doors at 5:55, barely wincing as the fluorescent ceiling lights aggressively assaulted her vision. 

"Rose!" she called, cheerily, spotting her friend setting up in front of the large mirror that lined one side of the room. Rose spun around, her long ponytail whipping her in the face. 

"Rey?" she asked, incredulously, before throwing herself on her. Rey staggered a little under the sudden weight, but caught herself quickly and squeezed her back. "Oh my god, it's so good to see you! I've missed you so much - wait," Rose pulled back, eyeing Rey suspiciously, her excitement morphing seamlessly into concern. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" 

Rey rolled her eyes.

"Don't you think you would know by now if something was wrong?" she demanded. 

"I guess," Rose said, cautiously. "Nothing _feels_ wrong. But you've never come to this class before."

"Yeah, well, I just figured that it was finally time I did," Rey said. Rose raised an eyebrow and folded her arms, unconvinced. 

"And?" she pressed. 

"... _and_ since I'm here, I wanted to invite you, Finn and Poe to a pizza night at the apartment on Saturday." 

"Oh Rey," Rose's face dropped. "I'm not sure. I mean, I'd love to, I really would! But -"

"It's okay," Rey cut across her, quickly. "Let's talk about it after class?" Rose bit her lip, but her eyes flickered to the growing number of people laying out their mats behind Rey, and she nodded. 

"Okay," she agreed. Rey smiled at her reassuringly, and went to claim her own spot in the corner. As she sat down on her mat, she felt a few small prods in her mind, like someone was fumbling around in the dark for something they knew was there but weren't sure exactly _where_. Cautiously, she reached out to it. It was _Kylo_ , his mind was a jumble of frantic questions, _where was she? Was she okay? Did something happen?_ , tinged with a hint of reproach at having woken up to find her gone. Rey was a little surprised, both that the connection had reached this far and at his concern, but she sent him a brief image of the yoga studio. She felt his mind relax, and the next second, he was gone. Before Rey could process the implications of what had just happened, Rose summoned the room's attention. 

"Good morning everyone! Welcome to class. We're going to start with a heart opener, so just lie back..." 

As Rose guided the class through their vinyasas, Rey directed her focus solely to executing each move as well as she could, allowing all other thoughts and concerns to slowly drop away. Rey had always been strong for her size, but she hadn't been to the gym in a while, and she felt pinpricks of sweat begin to break out across her skin and a burning sensation in her muscles that grew with every controlled namaskara sequence. 

By the time Rose guided them into the final meditation phase, savasana, an hour later, Rey was absolutely beat. She lay flat on her back, breathing deeply, and enjoying the pleasant tingling sensation running through her body. She imagined herself drifting off the floor, lost in her own consciousness, wishing that she could stay like this forever, suspended in this single moment...

... although, it did feel like they had been meditating for longer than she had expected. She slowly wriggled her fingers, beginning to wake herself up - 

\- and froze as her hand scraped against hard wood rather than the soft padded surface of her yoga mat. 

Rey thudded abruptly back into her own body, her sense of peace shattered. The air felt dusty and smelled old compared to the mildly chemical clean smell of the gym, and she could no longer hear the soft music that Rose had been playing throughout the session. Heart pounding, Rey sat up slowly, unwilling to open her eyes, dreading the moment when her sight would confirm what her other senses already knew.

She was back in the dream apartment. 

For a few seconds that felt like hours, Rey sat stock still on the floor, barely daring to breathe; her eyes darted around frantically for any sign of those black claws lunging towards her, her ears strained for any sudden noise in a silence so complete it was almost deafening. 

She didn't notice the figure huddled in the corner at the end of the corridor until it spoke. 

"Stardust?" the voice was barely more than a whisper but Rey, in her heightened state of alert, nearly fell back in surprise anyway. She watched as the figure hauled itself to its feet. It looked ridiculously small and thin, but moved as if it had hundred-pound weights stacked on its back. Legs shaking madly, it tried to take a step forward - before falling heavily onto its hands and knees. _Jyn_. "No!" she barked as Rey automatically moved to get up and help her. "Don't come any closer!" Reluctantly, Rey obeyed, and waited until Jyn had crawled to the wall and leant her back against it, breathing heavily, before she spoke. 

"How am I here?" she asked. "I'm not sleeping." Jyn shook her head. 

"I don't know. You shouldn't be. I don't think he even knows you're here yet - but it won't be long before he does." She spoke slowly, taking long pauses every few seconds, as if every word was costing her a great deal of effort. 

" _Who_ doesn't know I'm here? Is it... Snoke?" Despite her weakened state, Jyn snorted, disparagingly. 

"He wishes," she said. "No, not Snoke."

"Then _who_?" 

"It doesn't really matter who!" Jyn said, frustration evident in her voice. "You need to stop coming here!" 

"Stop _saying_ that!" Rey yelled. "First Luke, now you! I've looked for you for _five fucking years_ , Jyn! And now I've found you and the only thing people will tell me is to forget about it - and not even tell me _why_?" She glared at her foster mother, trembling with anger now rather than fear. Rey could count the number of times she had dared to yell at Jyn on one hand, which had always had the result of irritating her stepmother into silence, rather than getting Rey what she wanted. But now, Jyn just looked pained. 

"I can't tell you why," she said. 

" _Why not_?" 

"Because it won't help anything!" Jyn snapped, before breaking off into hacking and wet coughs that wracked her entire body. She gasped for air, drinking it in like a man half-drowned, before continuing. "Because if I tell you, you will come looking for me. And I can't risk it. I can't risk you." 

"But I can save you!" Rey insisted. 

"Oh Stardust," Jyn softened immediately. "You don't need to save me. It's my job to save _you_." 

"Is that why you left?" Rey asked. Jyn nodded. The firey anger immediately extinguished in Rey, leaving her cold. She looked down at her legs, staring at the multicoloured pattern on her gym leggings until the colours began to bleed into each other and the lines blurred. "Who's Cassian?" she asked, suddenly. She looked up at Jyn to see the woman staring at her, open-mouthed, completely thrown by the question. 

"You've... met Cassian?" she croaked. Rey nodded.

"He's gone now but he came to Takodana. I helped him fix up his bike... Kate." 

"You mean that temperamental heap of rust is still going?" Jyn asked. "Is he still only wearing a helmet?"

"Yup," Rey said.

"Idiot," Jyn said, though her words were laced with affection. She stared in front of her, lost in a memory - before she suddenly remembered where she was and shook herself. "Stardust, _find_ Cassian. He'll explain everything -" she paused, her head cocked to one side as she listened to something only she could hear. "We're out of time," she muttered. "You need to go, Rey - _now_. And don't come back. _Please_?" 

Only the sheer desperation on Jyn's face stopped Rey from arguing, and she began to lower herself back down into the corpse position on the floor. 

"I'm sorry I left you," Jyn said, suddenly. "I hope one day I can explain everything. But just in case -"

"No," Rey said, firmly. "This isn't goodbye. I _am_ going to figure out a way to save you - whether you like it or not." Jyn raised an eyebrow. 

"When did you get so stubborn?" she asked. Rey smiled.

"I learned from the best." She lay down and closed her eyes, holding onto the look of pride that had flashed across Jyn's face. When she opened her eyes again, a different face was hovering nervously over her own. 

"Rey?" Rose asked, tentatively. "Are you okay?" Rey sat up and looked around her. She was in the yoga studio, now empty except for her and Rose. 

"Is class over?" she asked. Rose nodded. 

"I was going to wake you but I didn't feel like I should..." she trailed off, blushing a little, obviously embarrassed at having picked up on such personal emotions, even if it was by accident. "Were you... with Jyn?" Rey nodded and Rose rocked back on her heels, exhaling loudly. "What the fuck?" she stated. 

"It's hard to explain," Rey said, rubbing her forehead. "But... come for pizza on Saturday and I promise I'll tell you everything." 

"Are you really using my concern for your well being against me?" Rose demanded. 

"Is it working?" Rey asked, hopefully. 

"Maybe a little," Rose conceded. "But what about..." she glanced around the empty studio and lowered her voice. "The house guest?" 

"It's all okay. You don't need to worry about Ben," Rey reassured her. 

" _Ben_?" Rose's eyebrows shot into her fringe. "Since when is he Ben? Has he... turned?" 

"Not yet - but I think he will," Rey said. "He's already changed so much." Rose folded her arms, a wry smile creeping across her face. 

"I see," she said, pointedly. "That much, huh?" Rey felt her ears grow hot from embarrassment. _Damn empaths_.

"Look, if you come over and are still worried afterwards, I promise that I'll come and live with you and Paige," she said, quickly. "Please Rose? _Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease_?"

**xXx**

Rey spent the whole Saturday compulsively cleaning the apartment, even going so far as to clear out the kitchen cupboards and reorganise everything in them. Ben had helped her reach the top shelves but otherwise hadn’t said a word. Even though there was no reason why she should have, a part of Rey felt a little guilty that she hadn’t asked him before inviting the others over. She had seen the blank curtain fall over his eyes when she had told him about it the day before, and he had stomped into his room and not spoken to her for the rest of the day.

He had even resisted their connection that night. Rey was trying hard to do as Jyn had said, and her connection with Ben seemed to be the only thing that kept the dream away. She had lain there, trying to cajole and coax him into a response, but had received only silence. Just when Rey had been about to give up and resign herself to a sleepless night on the sofa with coffee and _Golden Girls_ reruns, he had suddenly surged forward, wrapping her mind tightly up in his own with a forcefulness that almost took her breath away. But Rey hadn't resisted, allowing herself to be caught up in the tide as his thoughts washed over her in waves: he was nervous about the others' return and defensive in anticipation of the accusations they might throw at him. But, above all, Rey realised with a surprise, he _liked_ that it was just the two of them in the apartment and was mildly resentful at the others' presence intruding on that. She hadn't known how to respond to that other than by reaching out reassuringly to every anxious feeling that passed her by - but she hadn't broken the connection when they had woken up. Throughout the day, she could feel him holding onto his end, as tightly as he had held her hand when they had walked back from the shop, as if terrified she might suddenly snatch the lifeline away. 

There was a knock on the door just as Rey had finished rearranging the cushions on the sofa for the fifth time. She raced down the hallway and flung it open, hands reaching out towards her instantly and pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. 

"Peanut!" Finn said, squeezing her tightly. "I've missed you! Are you okay?" 

"I'm okay - but I can't breathe!" Rey gasped. Reluctantly, Finn released his grip, but he kept his hands on Rey's shoulders, staring intently into her face, looking for any silent cries for help that might be hidden there. 

"You sure?" he demanded. 

"For god's sake, she's _sure_!" Rose called, elbowing her way between them into the apartment. She held up the three massive pizza boxes she was cradling in her arms. "Poe really outdid himself," she said to Rey. 

"Yeah, well, only the best for our little ray of sunshine," Poe said, also stepping into the apartment and squeezing Rey's shoulder warmly in greeting. 

"Oh please! That boy behind the counter was so smitten with you, he would've given you the pizzas even if you didn't have witchy powers," Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes. Poe looked mock-offended and opened his mouth to respond, but then he caught side of someone behind Rey and his mouth closed, firmly. Finn also noticed the person and manoeuvred Rey behind him, the temperature in the surrounding air rising a little. 

Ben was hovering hesitantly by his bedroom door. His expression flickered between aloof and intimidating, but it wasn't enough to hide the nervousness that Rey felt radiating through their connection. She felt a stab of reproach towards herself, but before she could move, Rose, lovely empathic Rose, stepped forward. 

"Hi," she said, cautiously. "Uhh, Ben right?" Surprise flickered across his face at hearing the name, but he nodded, shortly. The relief on Rose's face was obvious. "We didn't get a chance to say hi before, but my name's Rose." 

"Yeah, I know," Ben said, abruptly, inclining his head. 

"Oh, right," Rose said, awkwardly. Silence descended in the hallway, punctured only by the shuffling of feet and occasional cough. 

"The pizza smells great!" Rey declared, a little more loudly than was necessary. She stepped past Finn and grabbed the top pizza box from Rose, walking over to Ben and laying her hand gently on his arm. "Let's go eat?" she said, more to him than anyone else. She felt his muscles tense under her touch, as if he was going to rip his arm away, but she tugged lightly on the mental thread joining them, reminding him that the connection between them was still strong, and he allowed her to guide him into the living room. She didn't need to be an empath to feel the surprise radiating from Finn, Rose and Poe as they followed them.

**xXx**

As far as Rey knew, the person who had invented pizza had not been a witch, but there was definitely some magic in the way that the atmosphere lifted as everyone busied themselves with eating. However, whatever magic there was lasted only as long as the pizza itself, and by the time only a couple of crusts and a smear of tomato sauce were left, the tension had returned, the air buzzing with unspoken accusations.

Finn, Poe and Rose sat together on the sofa, staring at Ben, who was sitting awkwardly in the corner. He had only had four slices of pizza, taking one himself, and then obediently eating the three that Rey had proactively handed to him. Rey sat on the floor between them, concentrating on sending a continuous stream of calming thoughts at Ben, while watching her friends closely. 

"So... Ben," Poe said, suddenly. "Gotta say, I know you were a weird kid, but I never expected Kylo Ren to be... well, _you_." 

"Wait, I thought you didn't know who Kylo Ren was?" Rose asked. 

"I didn't know Kylo Ren was Ben Solo," Poe corrected her. "But I knew Ben Solo - we grew up together. Our parents used to be friends. Good friends." Ben cleared his throat, awkwardly. 

"Yeah... I'm sorry about what happened to Shara," he said. "If it's any consolation, I had nothing to do with it."

"It's not," Poe said, bluntly. Ben leant back in his chair. 

"I understand," he said, stiffly. Poe huffed, running his hands through his unruly curls, which sprung back wilder than ever. 

"What happened to you, man?" he asked. "How did you get... _here_?" Ben's jaw clenched, his lips pressed together so tightly that they disappeared. _It's too much, too soon_ , Rey worried. 

"How many powers do you have?" Rose asked, changing the subject abruptly, and Rey hoped she could pick up on the gratitude that she sent her way.

"I... have a few," Ben ground out. "Mainly telekinesis." 

"Like Rey," Rose nodded. 

"He's nothing like Rey," Finn spat. 

"And how would you know?" Ben demanded, in a tone so cold that Rey felt a shiver creep down her spine. In response, Finn conjured a fireball in his hand, rolling it over his fingers lazily. 

"Cos I know the type of witch in the First Order," he replied. While Ben looked unimpressed by this demonstration, he couldn't hide the spark of interest in his eyes. 

"Ah," he said. "You must know Phasma then?"

"If you mean, did she make my life a living nightmare for ten years, then sure, I know her," Finn said, scornfully. "They took me when I was six. I don't remember my mom or my dad. Honestly, I don't wanna remember either. All I remember was being raised in this orphanage with a load of other pyro kids. They would test us: see how hot we could touch things without getting burned, dunk us in ice baths and see how long we could survive the cold. Phasma was the worst - she used to lock us in cold rooms and any fire we created to stay warm would slowly eat up the oxygen until we passed out..." he trailed off. Rey felt her heart ache for him. When she had first met Finn, he had been extremely jumpy, with little control over his powers, wincing with pain every time he used them from the associated memory it would conjure. He'd had awful nightmares too and a couple of times Rey had only just woken up in time to stop him from bursting into flame and burning her alive. He had improved a lot since being taken in by the Organa Coven, and luckily one of the coven members also worked as a therapist and had been able to help Finn process a lot of his trauma. But Rey knew that the wounds had scarred over rather than healed completely, and scars could still be painful.

Rose put her arm around him and Poe took his hand, gripping it tightly and muttering softly in his ear. Finn accepted the comfort but continued glaring at Ben, who held his gaze steadily. His expression was impassive, but Rey noticed he was clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles strained at the skin encasing them, threatening to burst through.

"I managed to escape when I was sixteen," Finn continued. "It was only later that I found out that the First Order specifically kidnaps pyro kids to train them as soldiers." 

"I had nothing to do with any of that," Ben said. 

"It doesn't matter!" Finn roared, suddenly. "I didn't have a choice - but you joined them _willingly_. You must have found out what they were doing and you still _helped_ them!" Rey felt Ben's mind darken dangerously and desperately tried to reach him and bring him back to safety. But her thoughts left no impact and bounced right back at her. Slowly, Ben rose to his feet, bearing down on Finn. 

"You don't know what you're talking about," he hissed. 

"Alright!" Poe jumped to his feet, stepping between them. "How about we all take a deep breath?"

His words fluttered through the room like a pleasant breeze, but even Poe's charm was struggling to neutralise the tensions building between the two men. 

"You didn't even fucking leave, Luke had to kidnap you!" Finn retorted, rising to stand too, his eyes glowing like newly molten lava. "Now you're the one with no choice. _You're_ the prisoner now! How does it fucking feel?"

" _Stop_!" Rey threw out her arms, forcing Finn and Ben to sit back down heavily in their seats. Ben glared at her and went to struggle, but Rey flexed her fingers, increasing her power and holding him down, _daring_ him to resist her. Sullenly, Ben went limp. Finn was too shocked to struggle, and Rey felt a pang of guilt; she had never used her magic on him like this before. But she would apologise to him later. 

"Rey," Rose touched her arm, gently. Rey blinked at her, surprised, the contact breaking the hold she had over Finn and Ben. They both gasped a little, as if a pressure had been removed from their chests. "Clearly, there are _a lot_ of issues that need to be addressed," Rose continued, speaking to the room. "But we're not going to get through them all tonight and duking it out is going to do nothing but destroy this apartment. Rey, why don't you go make us some tea? You do make the best tea - being English and all." 

"But -" Rey began, her eyes flickering between Ben and Finn. 

"Poe and I got this," Rose said, firmly. "Don't worry." Rey felt sceptical but nodded and left. She left the kitchen door open so as to hear any sounds of a fight brewing and put the kettle on, cursing the loud noise it made as it boiled. She gathered the cups as quickly as she could, sloshing the boiling water into the teapot so carelessly that she almost poured half of it down herself, and hurried back to the living room. 

When she came through the door, however, all eyes were on her. 

"So, Rey," Poe said, casually, as she put the tray down on the coffee table. "Had any weird dreams lately?" Rey looked at them, thunderstruck, before rounding on Ben. He looked at her defiantly, though there was a hint of what Rey would describe as _apologetic_ in his expression. 

"You told them?" she demanded. 

"It's not his fault, Rey," Rose cut in. "We know something's up and you said at yoga that you would explain everything anyway. So, spill." Rey flounced into an arm chair, sighed heavily and told them. She was careful to keep the details vague, cautious of reliving them in too much detail and being sucked back through the memory as she had been in Ahch-To. She told them about the training with Luke, to the ominous "him" that Jyn had mentioned, to the return of the black claws in the mirror. The others all listened closely, even Ben, and Rey realised that even though he knew exactly how all these events had made her feel, she hadn't actually told him what had happened. 

"Peanut - why didn't you tell us?" Finn asked, once she was finished. "We would've helped you through it." 

"I guess I figured that if I could actually get to Jyn, I could help her," she admitted. "And I thought that if I told you, you would try and stop me."

"Damn right, we would've stopped you!" Poe said. "Rey, dream magic is nothing to fuck around with!"

"I know!" Rey snapped. "I know. But it's alright, I haven't had the dream since Ben..." she trailed off, feeling her ears heat up a little. "What I mean is, Ben's been helping me to not have the dream anymore."

"Not exactly comforting," Finn muttered, unable to resist shooting a glare at him. "You still should've told us." Rey bit her lip and went to kneel on the floor in front of him, taking his hand. 

"I know," she said, sincerely. "I'm sorry." She and Finn didn't share a psychic bond, but they'd been friends long enough that he understood that she wasn't just apologising for lying to him. He dropped to his knees on the floor with her and pulled her into a hug. 

"Don't ever not tell me things again," he said, gruffly. "Or I will roast you. Got it?"

"Got it," Rey said, readily. She felt Rose and Poe join in the hug on either side of her, Poe's arm entwining around her back, Rose's head resting on her shoulder, and her heart almost burst from the overwhelming happiness of having them all back. 

They stayed that way for a few minutes, before finally breaking apart, though Rey didn't relinquish her grip on Finn's hand. 

"Well, I guess it's settled then," Rose said, brushing a tear out of the corner of her eye. "We're moving back in."

"Really?" Rey asked, eagerly. 

"For _you_ ," Finn said, quickly. "I don't give a shit about Ren."

"Nuh-uh, there's no way that I'm comfortable with the three of you living here without back-up," Poe said, sternly. The other three looked at him. "So, that's why BB-8 and I are moving in too. Or no deal." Relief washed over Rey and she agreed, immediately. It was only when they were pouring out the tea, arguing cheerfully over the time that Poe would need in the bathroom to get ready and where BB-8's litter box would go, that Rey noticed the one extra cup left and realised that Ben had left the room. 

And he had broken the connection between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (not permanently broken the connection, don't worry - just for the moment) 
> 
> I know there's a fair bit of angst in this chapter and hopefully there'll actually be some light-hearted room-mate bonding in the next one... but I felt that it's important in a redemption arc that a) the person being redeemed has to face the consequences of his actions and b) that the people he's hurt don't necessarily forgive him immediately. It's a work in progress :)


	13. The Halloween Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, _a lot_ of this chapter is Rey, Finn, Rose (& Ben) being lovable goons with each other and I'm not going to apologise for it because the world needs all the shameless fluff it can get right now! <3

Contrary to popular belief, Halloween was not a particularly sacred time for witches. Due to its reputation as a day when the boundaries between this world and the next were at their weakest, it was considered to be a good time to try and see the future. However, it was mainly non-witches who traditionally performed these rituals, particularly young women keen to catch a glimpse of their future husband. The day that was marked in the witching calendar but generally forgotten by the rest of the world was All Souls' Day two days later, which was when the dead would climb out of their graves and visit those they had left behind. No witch worth their broomstick would leave the house on All Souls' Day if they could help it.

Still, Halloween was significant for the Organa Coven as it was the anniversary of the Dark Father's defeat, and Leia would normally throw a massive costume party at the fanciest venue she could find to celebrate. Rey had gone every year since joining the coven, and the only thing more fun than the party itself was watching the press be thoroughly confused by the guest list when they reported on the event the following day.

Given the circumstances, Rey hardly expected there to be a party this year. She understood why - if Snoke was trying to attack the coven, there would be no better time than when they were all gathered together in one hall, their senses dulled by wine and their movements hindered by extravagant Halloween costumes. But she still felt a little disappointed as she headed home from work down streets lined with pumpkins and cheap Halloween props, occasionally stepping out of the way of early trick-or-treaters, too hyped up on sugar to pay attention to where they were going.

Her disappointment was quickly driven from her mind when she opened the front door and a massive jack o'lantern, with a jagged smile and crudely carved triangular eyes, came flying directly at her face.

"Fucking hell!" she swore, stumbling backwards in shock and just managing to catch herself on the banisters before she fell down the stairs. " _Rose_!"

The pumpkin lowered slowly to reveal her roommate, an equally wide grin spreading across her face.

"Did I scare you?" she asked, eagerly.

"You nearly killed me!" Rey returned.

"God, don't be so dramatic, you're fine!" Rose said, dismissively, tucking her pumpkin under one arm and reaching out with her other hand to pull Rey to her feet and into the apartment. "But it looks good, right? I've been working on them ever since I got home."

"What Rose means is that _we've_ been working on them ever since she got home!" Finn's voice called out to them.

"Hey, I am the brains behind this operation - you're just the muscle!" Rose yelled back, indignantly, disappearing into the kitchen to confront her disgruntled workers. Rey shrugged her bag off her shoulders and abandoned her boots by the steadily growing pile of shoes before following.

Poe and BB-8 moving in had brought the grand total of occupants in the apartment to six - and while one of those occupants was technically a cat, BB-8 was big enough that he basically took up the same amount of space as another person. The apartment seemed to almost be struggling to adjust to the abrupt increase in people: there was always someone's shoes to trip over in the hall, always someone's laundry drying in the bathroom, always someone's dirty dishes waiting to be washed in the sink. Half-drunk coffee mugs and beer bottles spawned on every available surface, as if autonomously blinking into existence and which they had only actually started clearing up once they had started competing with BB-8 for valuable nap space, as BB-8's solution was to shamelessly knock them to the floor with a swat of his paw.

Where the apartment had once been so silent Rey's thoughts had almost echoed uncomfortably around the rooms, it now buzzed with life, and the constant noise was as soothing as a night-time storm; the steady murmur of conversation or noise from the TV hummed through the walls like electricity, interspersed with sudden thunderous, claps of laughter or doors banging shut.

It was chaotic and crowded, but it felt like family to Rey and the opposite of the cold, empty apartment from her dreams that had imprisoned Jyn. She was so happy that she didn't even care that the bathroom routine that she, Rose and Finn had meticulously planned out had completely gone to shit, and Poe's obscenely long showers in the morning meant that she had been late to work three days in a row.

She stepped into the kitchen and was immediately greeted by four other jack o'lanterns of various shapes and sizes lined up neatly on the counter.

"Wow, these are pretty awesome!" she commented, picking up the nearest one. It was so long it was almost an oblong, with a big nose carved at a ninety-degree angle, small eyes and a thin line for a mouth. "You guys carved these?"

"All six of them," Poe nodded, shooting a pointed look at Rose. He and Finn were sitting at the table, exhaustion etched into their faces and a thin layer of sweat glistening on their foreheads. The edges of Poe's white shirt sleeves were stained slightly orange despite having been rolled up to his elbow, and Finn was massaging each of his wrists in turn, wincing as he did so.

"You guys volunteered to help!" Rose protested, clutching her pumpkin in front of her like a shield.

"Yeah, _help_ \- not _do everything_!" Finn shot back.

"Why six of them?" Rey cut in quickly, as Rose glared daggers at Finn.

"One for each of us," Rose said. "Even BB-8 gets one!" She pointed at the fluffy ginger cat curled up on the counter top. He had a small pumpkin clasped between his giant, fluffy paws and Rey could just make out the outline of a cat face carved onto the surface through his fur. She looked back down at the pumpkin she was holding, which suddenly looked a little familiar.

"Are they... meant to _be_ us?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Yup!" Rose said, smiling happily. "Neat concept, right?" Rey stared into the eyes of the Ben o' lantern, hesitantly. It wasn't the most flattering rendering of his face, even by jack o'lantern standards, but at least they had included him.

"So, now that that's all over with," Poe said, stretching back in his chair and ignoring Rose's pout. "What are we doing tonight?"

"Tonight?" Rey asked.

"To celebrate!" Poe said. "It's Halloween!"

"Didn't Leia say no coven gatherings or organised magic?" Finn asked.

"I'm not suggesting we invite the whole city over for a party!" Poe said, rolling his eyes. "But we should do _something_ \- even if it's only something little." He reached out suddenly and grabbed Finn's hand, bringing it close to his face to examine the lines on his palm. "I see a mysterious figure in your future," he declared, solemnly. "Asking you to please god put away all the clothes that they so graciously washed for you..."

"Yeah right, come on man, that's not even real magic," Finn scoffed, although he made no move to take his hand back.

"Maybe not - but you know what else isn't magic? Doing the laundry, and yet you never question how your clothes always mysteriously get cleaned," Poe quipped.

"Ooh, I know what we can do!" Rose broke in, suddenly, as Finn opened his mouth to retort. She grabbed an apple and a knife and set them on the table. "Paige and I used to do this all the time. You take an apple and peel off the longest strip you can, then you put it in water and it'll show you the first letter of the name of the person you're going to marry."

"And what initial did you get?" Poe asked, grinning.

"I can't remember," Rose said, even as her cheeks flushed bright pink.

"I don't buy it," Finn declared. "What if you marry someone whose name started with a K? Or an X? How would the peel show you that?"

"Well, why don't you give it a go then?" Rey asked, holding out the apple to him. "As you say - it's not even magic."

Finn narrowed his eyes at her.

"Gimmie that apple," he muttered, taking it from her. He peeled a long, neat strip off it and dropped it into a bowl of water that Rose hastily got for him. Despite it not being magic, the four of them still watched silently as the peel curled in the water.

"Is that a d?" Rose asked, twisting her head.

"I think it's a p!" Rey said, delightedly.

"Shut up, it is not!" Finn protested, seizing the bowl and staring at it, not caring as water splashed onto the table.

"Now who do we know whose name begins with a p?" Rose asked, innocently, even as a mischievous grin spread across her face. Finn glared at both of them.

"This isn't even real magic anyway," he muttered, scratching his head the way he always did when he was embarrassed. Poe slung an arm around Finn's shoulders, clearly revelling in the moment.

"Hey, don't be like that! he protested, mock-offended. "I promise I'm an excellent husband!"

"Poe and Finn kissing in a tree," Rey sang. "K-I-S-S-I-N... NO STOP GO AWAY!" she shrieked, darting out of the room as Finn sprang after her, holding the bowl of water over his head.

**xXx**

As a fireman, Finn had the strategical advantage when it came to throwing water, but Rey's telekinesis gave her the technical advantage, and the end result was both of them covered in water and the peel dangling mournfully from Finn's ear. A swift truce was called and the decision was made to abandon any more attempts to use apples to find their future husbands and to celebrate Halloween by watching a spooky film instead.

" _The Nightmare Before Christmas_?" Rey asked, sceptically, as she placed the Ben o'lantern on the mantel above the fireplace. They had moved all the jack o'lanterns to the living room for atmosphere, though they had used battery-powered candles for when BB-8 inevitably knocked one of them over.

"If I hear one bad word about _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ , I swear to God Rey, I will melt your favourite spanner," Finn promised her from the sofa, a massive bowl of popcorn cradled in his lap.

"Alright relax Human Torch, I have nothing against it," Rey retorted. "It just isn't that... scary."

"Rey, you and Finn are the biggest wimps I've ever met when it comes to jump scares. You also both have the most active powers in this room... I'm not convinced this apartment would _survive_ you two watching a scary movie," Poe pointed out.

"Fair point," Rey conceeded, settling herself down on the pile of cushions she had arranged on the floor with no further comment. "Hey, where did Rose get to?" Finn asked. Right on cue, Rose stumbled through the door, struggling to carry a massive bucket that they had never found a use for but kept in the cupboard because they felt like they might use it one day. Clearly, that day was today, as Rose set it down heavily on the floor and they saw what was inside.

"Uh, Rose? Is that _all_ our alcohol?" Finn asked, bemused.

"Yes," she said, defiantly. "You wanted to celebrate, let's celebrate! Besides, I found a _Nightmare Before Christmas_ drinking game online and by the looks of it, we'll need all the alcohol we can get."

"Sounds good to me!" Poe said, grabbing a drink for him and Finn and sitting down next to him on the couch, one hand resting lightly on Finn's knee. Rose also grabbed a drink and curled up in the armchair, pulling a blanket around her. Rey glanced at the Ben o'lantern glowing softly on the mantle, frowning slightly, and stood up.

"What, where are you going? We're just about to start!" Finn asked, chucking a piece of popcorn at her as she passed him, heading determinedly for the door.

"I'm going to invite Ben," Rey said, avoiding their eyes. There was an awkward pause.

"Are you sure?" Finn asked.

"Yes," she replied, firmly.

"But -"

“Guys come on, how’s he meant to change if we don’t give him a chance?” she demanded, rounding on them. “We need to show him that we’re better than Snoke – that we do offer second chances.” She met each of their eyes in turn, pleading with them to understand.

“You’re right, Rey,” Rose nodded, eventually. “Of course he can join.” Rey sighed in relief.

"Thank you," she said, and left before they could change their minds.

Ben had only grown more reserved since the others had moved back in - not in a sullen or imposing way, but as if he was trying to shrink himself down so as to not accidentally encroach on the space that the others were taking up. If anyone did walk into a room that he was in, he would hunch his shoulders up to his ears, trying to make his massive body as small as he could, glaring at anyone who came too close. He even seemed to be keeping his distance from Rey, avoiding her eyes and grunting if she tried to talk to him. The one time she had managed to corner him and ask him about it, it had not gone well.

"Hey, are you okay?" she had asked.

"Yeah, why?" he had replied, brusquely.

"You just... you seem quieter?"

"I don't have much to say."

"No, but, even..." she had lowered her voice. "Even at night. You feel... distant?" His upper lip had curled upwards in a sneer.

"How am I meant to feel?" he had demanded.

"I don't know -" she had begun before he had cut across her.

"You know, you don't have to reach out to me if it's such a problem for you."

"Fine, I won't," Rey had shot back, bristling.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Of course, when night-time came, she had reached out for him. And of course, he had responded. He always did. But since that first pizza night, Rey had felt as if he was trying to put up a wall between them. It was a fairly ineffective well and Rey was fairly sure that she could break through it easily if she tried - yet, the message was clear all the same: he was closing himself off from her as much as he could, even if he couldn't cut her out completely. Rey was worried and, if she were honest with herself, a little hurt - but she had no idea what to do about it.

She knocked lightly on his door and poked her head around it. Ben was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. One arm was tucked under his head while the other rested on his stomach, his long legs dangling off the end. He looked up when she entered and pulled himself up to a sitting position but didn't get up.

"Hi," Rey said.

"Hi."

"We're going to watch _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ and get shitfaced," Rey said. "Wanna join?"

"No. Thank you," he said, stiffly. Rey shuffled, awkwardly.

"We really want you to join," she said. He scoffed.

"Thanks but I can think of better ways to spend my time than with people who fear and hate me," he said, the bitterness in his voice stinging Rey's ears.

"They don't fear or hate you," she said, wishing that she sounded more confident. "I mean, you're not their _favourite_ person but you're not going to change that by being in here. Besides," she took a deep breath. " _I_ really want you to join."

"I don't need your pity," he muttered. Rey took a breath, considering her response, before stepping tentatively into the room. It was strange, she had felt so vulnerable and scared when she had first met him and now she saw those same emotions reflected in his eyes as he tracked her movements across the room towards him. She felt him stiffen as she sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. Maybe he had always felt this way and she just hadn't noticed.

"I don't pity you," she said, softly. "If anything, you should pity me. I'm the one with abandonment issues who's too scared of her dreams to even go to sleep by herself," she continued, only half-joking.

"I don't pity you either," he said. His sincerity surprised her and Rey suddenly became hyper aware of the fact that her fingers were lightly brushing against his and there was an expression bleeding through his guarded mask that could only be described as hopeful. Was that because of her?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door and she jerked back from him automatically as Poe entered the room.

"Hey," he said, a little awkwardly. "So, uh Ben... I went home earlier today to grab some stuff... and I found this. Thought you might like it." He held out a photograph, slightly faded with age. Ben took it, cautiously, and Rey leant in to see.

The picture showed two boys, around ten years old, proudly holding up plastic buckets in the shape of pumpkins filled with multicoloured candies. The shorter one was dressed as a pirate, with masses of dark curly hair poking out from under his hat. He had a fake parrot dangling off his shoulder and was grinning wildly, undeterred by the fact that he was missing his two front teeth. The taller one was wrapped in a long black cape, and was lanky and pale with sticky-out ears and stick-out black hair to match. His smile was a little more hesitant, but his happiness was still evident on his face.

"Is that... you and Ben?" Rey asked Poe, incredulously.

"Yeah," Poe said. "Mom and Dad were working, so Han offered to take me trick or treating with them. He actually ended up tripping over a fake gravestone on someone's lawn a few minutes after taking the photo and we spent the rest of the night in the ER until Leia could come pick us up."

"Sounds like a rough Halloween," Rey commented, smiling.

"For Han maybe. We had candy and we got to see some guy bleeding with half a beer bottle sticking out his head. It was the _best_ Halloween," Poe said, grinning. "Anyway, you guys gonna join us soon? I'm not sure how much longer Finn can keep Rose from starting without you."

"We'll be right there," Rey said. Poe nodded, his eyes flickering to Ben momentarily before leaving. Rey stood up. "See you in a few minutes?" she asked Ben. He didn't acknowledge her and just stared down the photo, gripping it tightly. His head was bowed and his hair fell between them like a curtain, obscuring his face from view - not that Rey needed to see his expression to guess how he was feeling. She felt an almost overwhelming urge to wrap him her arms around him - but she fought it, not wanting to overstep. "Remember you're not alone," she said instead, and left the room, leaving the door open behind her.

She re-entered the living room to find Finn and Rose in the middle of a heated argument over whether they would drink every time the word "Halloween" was said.

"Rose, not only will we be blind drunk by the end of the first song but we will have nothing left for the rest of the film!" Finn was saying, exasperatedly.

"Alright, alright!" Rose huffed. "What about "Happy Halloween" then?"

This was accepted as a suitable compromise, and they finally started the film, Rose rattling off the rest of the rules as the scene opened on the forest with the different holiday symbols carved into the trees. Rey only half paid attention, her gaze flickering continuously from the puppets dancing on the screen to the living room door.

Ben appeared just as _This is Halloween_ was ending. There was a spare chair in the corner, but he walked right past it, choosing instead to lower himself down onto the floor next to Rey. She smiled, reassuringly and levitated a beer out of the bucket towards him.

"I don't really know what the rules are," she admitted in a whisper. "So just drink whenever Rose says." He nodded and caught the bottle in the air, flicking off the cap with a blink and taking a long gulp.

"Oh man, I used to be terrified of that dude!" Poe said, as the two-faced mayor bumbled on screen.

"Yeah, I remember," Ben snorted, unexpectedly. The attention turned to him.

"Remember?" Rey prompted, gently.

"We really don't need to go into that," Poe said, hastily. "I was six!"

"Nah man, let Ren speak!" Finn said, smirking at Poe.

"Poe was at our house. Mom was meant to be babysitting us but there was some work thing she had to do, so she put it on to keep us occupied and left us to it. Poe watched the whole movie from under a blanket. Mom had no idea how terrified he was, and didn't think twice about introducing us to the Mayor of New York a couple of days later. Poe got so scared he was going to "change his face" that he screamed and threw up on the Mayor's shoes. The press had a field day - but it didn't do much for the Mayor's re-election campaign," Ben said. He started hesitantly, his voice faltering as if every word was a word too many, but his confidence grew as he continued, drawing strength from the amusement the memory gave him. Poe lobbed a cushion at him, which Ben stopped in midair and sent flying back with a lazy flick of his wrist.

"Goddamn cheater," Poe huffed, and Ben let out a bark of laughter.

"Sally lost her arm!" Rose yelled, suddenly. "DRINK!"

Rey watched Ben as he drank from the corner of her eye. She wasn't used to seeing him this relaxed. It was nice. _He_ looked nice. In fact, the way his lips brushed against the glass and his adam's apple bobbed lazily in his throat with every swallow, and the fact his hands were big enough to encircle the whole bottle completely were all _more_ than nice... "I see you Rey! Don't think you can get out of drinking that easily!" Rose called, jolting her out of her thoughts. She quickly took a couple of gulps of her own beer, accidentally inhaling half of it in her haste and spluttering furiously. Ben clapped her on the back, probably trying to be helpful, but it only made Rey more flustered and cough harder. "Whoa, Rey what's got you so thirsty?," Poe commented. "HEY!" he yelled, as the popcorn bowl rose into the air of its own accord and dumped its contents over his head. "What did I do?!"

**xXx**

For the first part of the movie, the drinking was relatively moderately paced, with Rose yelling at them to drink every couple of minutes or so. Then, they came to _What's This?_ , which, due to the rule that they had to drink every time Jack asked what something was, meant that they drank continuously for the whole song, scrambling for another bottle when they inevitably finished the one they hand. The levels of sobriety plummeted from that point on and by the end of the film, they were well and truly hammered.

"Truth or dare!" Poe declared, slurring his words a little.

"Objection!" Rose protested, her voice slightly muffled from the pillow she had placed on her face.

"On what grounds?" Poe demanded. Rose raised her head, the pillow slipping onto the floor, and looked at him, blearily.

"On the grounds that you're a pervert," she said, as sternly as she could.

"I mean she's not wrong," Finn agreed, as Poe spluttered indignantly.

"Hey! You're my future husband, 'member? You should defend my honour!" Poe pouted, going to poke Finn in the chest but missing completely and getting him in the shoulder instead.

"What honour?" Finn scoffed, dismissively.

"I....! That's it, the wedding is off!" Poe declared, struggling to get to his feet but having a hard time balancing, his legs wobbling beneath him.

"Poe! Listen to your future husband and sit down!" Rey squealed, shifting closer to Ben and out of range of being squashed by a potentially falling Poe. Ben slung an arm around her and lazily pulled her even closer, so their noses were almost touching. His eyes were closed, his long, dark eyelashes gently fluttering against his skin. His lips were slightly parted and his breath softly caressed her face, the faint smell of beer lingering in the air between them. If Rey had been sober, she may have been bothered by being this close to him. But she wasn't, and drunk Rey was going to enjoy the heavy weight of his hand on her waist in a way that sober Rey would never allow herself to.

"I wish I hadn't killed my dad," he murmured, suddenly. Rey hiccupped in surprise, unsure if he was talking to the whole room or just to her, but Rose, Finn and Poe stopped what they were doing to listen anyway. "I mean... I knew I had to... he had to die... but I wish things had been different."

"He's telling the truth!" Rose said, nodding vigorously. "I can't feel him lying!"

"Yes, _thank you_ Rose," Rey snapped, shooting a glare at her. Rose mimed zipping her lips and leaned back in her chair, placing the pillow back over her face. Rey turned back to Ben.

"Why do you say that?" she asked. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Aren't we playing Truth or Dare?" he asked, a little confused. Rey didn't quite know how to respond to that, so she placed a hand on his cheek and crossed the inches of space between them to press her forehead against his. She felt him hum contentedly at the contact and finally, the fragile wall he had built between them crumbled. Alcohol made their connection a little fuzzy, the thoughts and emotions coming in no particular order, bumping into each other or merging into new ones. Still, there were two strains of thought that seemed to dominate the others, violently ripping into each other when they collided, the aftershocks rippling out and engulfing other, unrelated thoughts in a similarly destructive manner. A shock wave threatened to break into Rey's own mind and she pulled back, abruptly.

"I feel the conflict in you," she whispered. "It's... tearing you apart." He looked at her with a tired acknowledgement in his eyes, the exhaustion from the war waging between Ben Solo and Kylo Ren in his head clear on his face. But before either of them could speak, there was a yell and two bodies crashed heavily to the floor where Rey had been only moments before. Poe had apparently resumed trying to get up with Finn's help - and it had only been a matter of time before the pair of them had been sent sprawling to the ground, where they now lay, unable to do anything but laugh hysterically.

One by one, they slowly drifted off next to each other on the floor, too drunk to do anything else but succumb to the sleep that gently but firmly came for each of them in turn. Rey yawned and rested her forehead against Ben's chest, vaguely aware of his chin resting on the top of her head. If she had been sober, she may have remembered to reach out to him through their mental connection, and not just through this new, physical one. She may have heard the mild cackle of triumph that echoed somewhere deep within her psyche and the raspy voice that whispered in her ear:

" _At last!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're currently in quarantine and looking for a good game to play in a video call with friends, [this is the drinking game I used as a reference for this chapter](https://www.hypable.com/the-nightmare-before-christmas-drinking-game/). Enjoy and pls drink in moderation - it sorta defeats the point of social distancing if you end up in hospital with alcohol poisoning!
> 
> Also, I considered not adding in the whisper and just starting the next chapter with "THE DEAD SPEAK" instead, but I figured that that might just make it seem like it had come out of nowhere and had not been planned for at all -looks into the camera, office-style-


	14. The Devil Within

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long - I was really stuck on this chapter for ages and ended up re-writing it several times (and drinking my entire weight in coffee while doing so), and I cannot tell you how arsing relieved I am to finally upload it. 
> 
> Hope you're all safe!

A cold breeze made Rey shiver, jolting her awake. She groaned, her head still fuzzy from the alcohol and reached out for the warmth of Ben's body next to her, not willing to open her eyes and fully commit to waking up just yet. She frowned when her hand met empty hair, but rolled over and stretched out for Poe on her other side. Again, she felt nothing except for the smooth, cold wood of the floorboards. 

Reluctantly, Rey opened one eye - and saw the soft, grey mist shimmering outside the window. In an instant, she was awake and sitting bolt upright. Her vision pulsed in time with her throbbing head and her tongue felt like leather in her dry mouth, but Rey was too alarmed to really care about either. 

The living room door was wide open, giving her a clear view of the end of the hallway where Jyn would normally be. But her foster mother was nowhere to be seen. 

"Jyn?" her voice cracked and caught in her throat, and she didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed when there was no response. She didn't dare trying to call for her again. Everything felt off: from waking up in the living room to Jyn's absence. The dream apartment had always felt sinister; a direct insult to the warmth of its real-world counterpart. But this went beyond a mockery of reality. It felt like an abomination. 

Desperately trying to keep calm, Rey reached out in her mind for the white thread that connected her to Ben, but either she was panicking too much to find it or he was too far away because the space around her was as barren and hollow as the apartment she was sitting in. The feeling of being truly alone sank into her, pulling her down into the floor, and the surrounding silence grew loud enough that even her own breathing began to disturb her. 

A sudden bang cracked through the air like a firework. Rey jumped violently, the rising horror in her throat stifling a yell, as she realised that someone had just slammed the front door shut. She didn't dare move, straining her ears for even the slightest follow-up sound. For a few agonising moments, there was nothing. Then, just as she was beginning to hope that someone had been _leaving_ the apartment and not entering it, there was a dull thud... and then another... and then another... as heavy, purposeful footsteps began to tread slowly down the hallway towards her. 

Rey scampered back away from the door, unable to tear her eyes away from the doorway but terrified of seeing whatever those footsteps belonged to appear in it. Her shoulders connected with something hard and smooth, stopping her retreat. Trembling, she looked around. 

She had backed up against Rose's vanity mirror, the glass surface a deep, swirling black that greedily sucked up any light around it, blurring the edges of the frame. Almost immediately, two black claws shot out and grabbed her shoulders, the talon-esque nails digging deep into her skin. Rey forgot all about the ominous footsteps and screamed wildly, as she was dragged backwards through the glass. 

**xXx**

Rey felt as if she were drowning in nothingness. She didn't know where she was or which way she was facing. The inescapable darkness pressed in close around her, bearing down on her from all sides and making her movements sluggish and slow, as she floundered desperately. 

She twisted her torso and a sharp, shooting pain immediately burst from her shoulders, radiating into her chest and down her arms... but it also broke through the haze of panic that was clouding her mind.

 _Draw your power to you_ , Luke's voice echoed around her, though whether it came from inside her head or outside, she had no idea. _Concentrate, Rey_. 

Clinging to the borders of the pain just enough that she didn't lose herself entirely in dread, Rey forced herself to stop struggling and instead focused her energy on drawing her telekinesis to a single point in her mind. It was slow work at first, like dragging a massive rock up a gravel path, but the more power amassed, the quicker it came. The pressure began to build, and Rey forgot the pain in her shoulders but she didn't need it to ground her anymore; the power filled the space in her head entirely, leaving no room for anything else. She gritted her teeth with the effort of stopping any from escaping....

... and then, all at once, she let go. 

The telekinesis flew from Rey's mind in all directions like a shock wave, tearing the claws from her shoulders. Her cries of pain mixed with the infuriated screeches of whatever held her, as she was ripped free and plummeted through the darkness - landing face-first on solid ground. 

She lay still for a while, enjoying the feeling of _something_ beneath her after being suspended in _nothing_. Then slowly, she lifted her head, ears ringing violently.

She was on the Takodana workshop floor. Rey almost sobbed in relief as she used her remaining strength to drag herself to a nearby car. She pulled herself to a sitting position, leaning against it and panting furiously, a wave of dizziness washing over her. She closed her eyes, waiting for it to pass, and considered just staying there until Maz opened the shop in the morning. Sure, she had no idea how she would explain herself but she was so exhausted that the idea of not moving was swiftly overpowering any practical concerns. 

A slight wind whistled across the workshop, cold and harsh, making Rey's skin break out in goosebumps. She was still only wearing the socks, sweatpants and Finn's old t-shirt - there was no way she'd be able to spend the night on a drafty workshop floor dressed like this. But she wouldn't exactly be able to walk home either - it was a long walk, even if she had been dressed appropriately for New York in November. Groaning at her own survival instinct, she grabbed hold of the car's bonnet and hauled herself to her feet, praying that Maz had left her office door unlocked and she wouldn't have to break it down. 

A couple of chains clinked gently behind her, freezing the blood in Rey's veins. _Just a draft_ , she told herself, firmly, even as the hairs on the back of neck stood up. _A perfectly ordinary, boring draft_. She took a couple of shaky steps forward, reminding herself that every step was a step closer to a warm bath - until a soft growl made her stop again. _That was definitely not the wind_. She could see the door to Maz' office, simultaneously within reach and impossibly far. She shifted her weight between her legs, testing their strength and wondering if she should make a break for it. 

A snarl too close to comfort made the decision for her. She lurched forward - just as a hand snaked around her mouth and an arm grabbed her waist, and someone dragged her off the workshop floor.

"Don't scream," a familiar voice cautioned her urgently. "Stay still." A million questions whirled around Rey's brain but the urgency in his voice made her obey - as the thing that had been stalking her nightmares rounded the corner. 

She saw its claws first, with long nails that clicked menacingly against the concrete floor, which fed into vaguely humanoid arms. Its back legs were shaped more like a lion's, although the nails on its back feet were just as nasty as the ones on the front. The body that joined them was disproportionately small and knotted spikes ran along its spine, up its neck and onto its long hammer-shaped head. It was easily as big as any of the cars around it and its skin was an even pitch black - as if it had once been the shadow of a monster, but the monster had been too overwhelmed by its foulness and set it free. 

It drew closer, opening its mouth slightly in a guttural growl to reveal bleach-white, needle-like teeth, as it sniffed the air where Rey had been standing. Cassian's arms stiffened around her, warning her to keep still, and Rey bit down on the insides of her mouth so hard that she tasted blood as the mirror demon drew closer... and continued past them, as if they weren't there at all. Cassian waited until it had disappeared down a different row of cars before he slowly lowered his hand from Rey's mouth.

"Can you run?" he muttered. Rey nodded, pretty sure she would've jumped out a window without a second thought if it meant getting away from that thing. "The Exit is unlocked. When I say run, run."

"What about you?" Rey hissed in reply. 

"Don't worry about me," he replied. "Just run."

"But -"

"Do as I say," he cut across her. "Ready? Go!" He gave her a little push to set her off and Rey careered forwards, her feet flailing out from underneath her. She was only halfway across the workshop floor when a triumphant screech told her that she had been discovered. Before she could stop herself, she looked over her shoulder. The mirror demon was bounding towards her, its long claws raking at the concrete floor. There was no way she could outrun it. 

Almost out of nowhere, Cassian appeared, bodily throwing himself against the creature and knocking it off course. It stumbled sideways, splitting open pipes and severing cables that sparked and jumped madly, before smashing into the wall. It barely took a second to recover before it sprang forwards again, shrieking in outrage. It was on Cassian before he could react, tossing him through the air as if he were nothing. 

Automatically, Rey stretched out her hand. She managed to slow his flight but not nearly enough and he crashed head-first onto a car bonnet, where he lay motionless and groaning. Chattering loudly, the demon advanced. It straightened up onto its hind legs, towering over him, and raised a clawed hand, ready to tear his heart out... 

"Hey!" Rey called. Summoning the remaining dregs of her power, she pulled the electricity from the sparking cable. It needed little encouragement, surging eagerly up the invisible connection towards her. Rey waited until the last second and redirected it, sending it soaring away from her. Her aim was a little off but once again the electricity willingly compensated for her fatigue. Cassian saw it coming and managed to roll himself off the car bonnet just in time, as the electricity leapt into the mirror demon. 

The demon sparked and hissed in the electricity's grasp, powerless to do anything to stop it from rushing around its body, slowly frying it from the inside. Rey sank to her knees, her energy fast draining from her, but she kept the channel open, not wanting to stop until she knew the demon was dead. Finally, it crashed heavily to the floor, its body lightly smoking and its leg twitching occasionally from the residual energy. Rey fell along with it, too weak to catch herself. As if far away, she heard a door bang.

"Rey?" someone called, accompanied by the sounds of footsteps pounding the floor. "Rey!" Hands went around her and she was hauled into Finn's arms, his eyes wide with panic. "Holy shit, what happened? Are you okay? How did you get here?" The questions came far too quick for Rey to have any hope of answering, so she just grinned at him weakly, relieved tears spilling from her eyes. 

"There's someone else here!" another voice she recognised as Poe's called. 

"Who? Is that the person who did this to you?" Finn demanded. Rey shook her head. 

"No," she croaked. "Friend... Saved me."

"Saved you? Saved you from what?" Finn asked, just as Poe yelled out: 

"Christ! What in the name of _fuck_ is that?!" 

"Explain... later..." Rey insisted. "We need to go... _now_..." Finn bit his lip but nodded. He slid his arms under her knees, not even attempting to try and get her to stand, and gently scooped her up against his chest. Rey had never been more grateful that Finn worked as a firefighter. 

"Poe! Grab the other dude and let's get out of here!" he called.

"Gladly!" Poe returned. 

**xXx**

Poe's car was a beat-up two-seater, masquerading as a four-seater. Normally, Rey hated being crammed into the back of it and had once literally fought with Finn over sitting in the front. Right now though, she didn't have the energy nor the willpower to complain as Finn set her down in the backseat, apologising profusely when he banged her head against the door frame. She was shortly joined by Cassian, who Poe bundled in next to her with a lot less care. With such little space, Cassian's head slumped against her shoulder, the cut from his forehead bleeding profusely down the front of her t-shirt. But the rise and fall of his chest told her that he was still breathing and that was all Rey cared about.

Poe and Finn clambered in the front and they drove back to the apartment. She had a feeling that Poe was driving a lot faster than the speed limit, as the buildings seemed to fly past her window a lot quicker than they ever had done when she was on the bus. Luckily the roads were still abandoned, the sky only just starting to fade to a lighter blue as the morning faded in. Rey watched the streetlights streak past her window and imagined that they were racing them. She didn't know what would happen if the streetlights switched off before they got home... and after the evening she had just had, it was difficult to think of any substantial consequences. 

Her mind might still have been exhausted, but by the time they pulled up outside the apartment building, the strength had returned to Rey's legs enough that she didn't need to be carried up the stairs - and she stubbornly refused Finn's offer to do so anyway. 

"What about Cassian?" she asked, as Poe and Finn helped her out of the car. 

"Let's help you first - we'll come back for him," Poe said, firmly. Rey opened her mouth to argue, but firmly sandwiched between Poe and Finn, she was in no position to argue. Slowly, the three of them made their way up the steps, Poe and Finn being extremely patient with her unsteady steps. Only when they made it to the door did they let her go, carefully helping her to lean against the wall for support. 

"I'm fine, go get Cassian," Rey insisted. She waited until the tops of their heads had disappeared back down the stairs and knocked on the door. It opened almost immediately and Rey nearly fell through it in surprise. 

She was caught immediately by Ben, who stared at her with an expression of undeniable relief. His hair was wild, as if he had been running his hands through it and his face was paler than usual - but he was still a welcome sight for Rey, and before she could stop herself, she threw her arms around him. He only paused for a moment before his arms encased her completely and he hugged her tightly back, almost lifting her off the floor. Rey could feel him tremble beneath her, his thoughts swirling into her own as their mental connection reinstated with a vengeance, and Rey almost sobbed. 

_Not alone_ , she thought and his mind instantly surged forwards to meet it, wrapping her up in promises and reassurances that of course she wasn't alone and she never had been. _But I was_ , she thought, memories of the dream apartment drifting unbidden into her head, making her cling to him a little tighter. His mind took on a hard edge, which she recognised as anger - but it wasn't directed at her. _Not again_ , it promised her. _Never again._

"Rey!" They sprang apart at the sound of Rose's voice, whose face appeared over Ben's shoulder, full of concern. "Are you okay? We woke up and you were gone! Where did you go?"

"I'm okay," Rey said, smiling weakly. As one both Ben and Rose looked sceptically at the blood stains on her shirt. "They're not mine," she reassured them, quickly. Ben reached up and gently touched the charred holes in her t-shirt, revealing identical burn marks in her skin underneath where the demon had gripped her. "Ah well, those are mine," she admitted. Ben's lips pressed together in a thin line and his eyes took on a dangerous glint, but before either he or Rose could press her further, they were interrupted by the return of Finn and Poe, supporting Cassian between them.

"He's awake!" Finn said.

"Who's he?" Rose asked, eyes growing wide as she took in his bloody face and limp body.

"Cassian Andor," Rey said, as she, Rose and Ben pressed against the wall to let them past.

"The guy from Takodana whose bike you fixed? The dude who knows Jyn?" Rose demanded, surprised. 

"He better be - the last thing this night needs is a fucking shapeshifter," Poe muttered, as they moved into the living room, the others following close behind. As carefully as they could, they laid him down on the sofa, still littered with popcorn from the film evening, which crunched and crackled under Cassian's weight - not that he seemed to be too bothered by it. Rey crouched down on the floor next to him and took his hand, while Rose inspected the wound.

"Hey Cassian," Rey said, softly. "Nice to meet you properly."

"Sorry it wasn't under better circumstances," he chuckled, his eyes flickering open to look at her. 

"It doesn't look that deep," Rose said. "The biggest danger is probably concussion - I'll go get the med kit." 

"What the hell got him?" Finn asked.

"You remember that thing that grabbed me through the mirror?" Rey asked, distractedly. 

"...yeah."

"Well, _that_ ," she said. 

"Fuck me, _that_ was what was on the floor?" Poe demanded. "Rey, what the hell is going on?" 

"It's a long story," Rey said, wearily, unwilling to relive it all again.

"Tough shit," Poe responded, harshly. "We wake up, hungover as hell to find you gone and Ren going mental, pacing around the place and yelling at you being in danger at Takodana..." Rey glanced up at Ben, who was leaning against the wall by the door like a hulking shadow. She realised that while she had been too weak or too distracted to feel the connection, he must've still been able to. Ben's eyes met hers briefly before flicking away - but it was enough to confirm Rey's suspicions: he had seen and felt it all happen, but been powerless to do anything about it. "... we get there and find you and this Cassian guy looking like you've just had a boss battle with something out of a fucking Wes Craven movie." Poe continued. He sat down on the floor next to her and gently turned her face to look at him. "Please Rey," he said, in a softer tone. "Tell us what's going on." 

"You promised you wouldn't keep anything from us," Finn chimed in. Rey sighed; it was only right that she tell them. Cassian squeezed her hand reassuringly, a silent promise to follow her lead. 

"You may want to wait a couple of minutes before starting though," Rose said, re-entering the room, carrying a tray that held a med kit and two cups, with BB-8 trotting in after her. The ginger cat made a beeline for Rey, sitting down heavily on the floor by her legs, rubbing his fur against them. 

"For what?" Rey asked.

"Not so much what, but who," Rose noted, deliberately avoiding the question. She set the tray down and handed Rey one of the cups. "Drink this," she commanded, before opening the med kit and beginning to clean Cassian's wound. Rey sniffed it.

"Ginger tea?" she asked. 

"Among other things," Rose nodded. 

"You called my mother?" Ben demanded, suddenly. He sounded half-exasperated and half-reproachful, as if there had been a fiery argument over whether to call Leia or not, and he had thought the matter had been settled when he had explicitly told Rose not to. The way Rose tossed her head impatiently in response confirmed that this was _exactly_ what had happened. 

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" she responded, heatedly. "She _is_ our High Priestess." 

"She's also _my mother_ ," Ben said, tersely. 

"In case you hadn't noticed, there is a man bleeding on our couch, Rey looks like she was literally skewered, and there may or may not be a mirror demon running around Takodana... _this is not about you_ ," Rose told him, with uncharacteristic force - clearly channelling his own frustrated emotions and using it against him. Ben didn't argue, but huffed and folded his arms, his face settling into its normal sullenness. Rey sipped her drink to hide her smile. The ginger was strong enough to mask whatever else Rose had mixed into the tea and the peppery taste made her throat tingle. Combined with Cassian's hand in hers and the comforting weight of BB-8 vibrating against her side, Rey felt herself grow stronger with every gulp. 

Sure enough, exactly two minutes later and there was a bang as the front door flew open. For a heart-stopping moment, Rey was back in the dream apartment, waiting in horror for whatever had entered the apartment to come for her. BB-8 licked her hand, his rough tongue startling her slightly and bringing her back to reality, and Leia strode into the room, followed closely by Luke. As usual, she was wearing a designer suit and he was clutching his staff, but both of them wore identical, haggard expressions. Clearly it had been a long night for them as well. 

Leia stopped momentarily when she saw Ben, who stared at the floor, steadily avoiding her gaze. But, ever the High Priestess, she managed to tear her attention away from her son and direct it at Cassian. 

"Hello old friend," she said, sitting down on the sofa next to him and taking his other hand. "It's been a while."

"Leia," he said, smiling. "Luke." Luke grunted and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"That looks like a nasty cut," Leia observed, just as Rose began carefully covering it with a bandage.

"I've had worse," Cassian said. 

"Well I would like to say that you're safe now, but clearly "safe" is subjective with this lot," Leia said, not unkindly, as she looked at Rey, Rose, Poe and Finn. "I think I can safely say that no other member of my coven has given me as many grey hairs as you four." 

"Sorry, Leia -" Finn began, but Poe jumped in, quickly.

"It's my fault Leia. This all started when we tried to scry for Jyn through the mirror - I should never have..." Leia raised a hand, cutting him off. 

"I know," she said, and for a second, Rey thought that this must be undeniable confirmation of her mind-reading abilities - until she remembered that she had told Luke everything. She looked at him questioningly and he coughed, shifting awkwardly and refusing to meet her eye.

"It's not your fault," Cassian groaned from the couch. "This would have happened sooner or later - Jyn just thought she could outrun it." 

"What would have happened?" Rey asked. "That thing from the mirror -" 

"Before we go any further," Luke cut her off, gruffly. "We should check her." He looked at Leia pointedly, who pursed her lips into a thin line in a way identical to her son. 

"Check for what?" Rose asked, cautiously. 

"Rey," Leia said, taking the cup out of her hands. "I'm going to ask you to trust me. I need to see inside your mind."

"Why?" Rey cut in. But Leia shook her head. 

"Trust me," she repeated, rising and pulling Rey to her feet along with her. Rey paused, taking a moment to carefully break her connection with Ben, before nodding. Leia's presence in her mind felt like a cool breeze on a warm day: refreshing but with a slight edge that made her skin break out in goosebumps. There was no harshness as she swept through Rey's thoughts, not lingering on anything for too long, but reaching absolutely everything. For her part, Rey tried to relax and let Leia search for whatever she was looking for without resistance.

Then, out of nowhere, in the deepest crevices of her head, something stirred. Something that Rey hadn't even realised was there. 

Leia touched it causing a burst of hot anger to flare up within Rey, and before she could stop herself, she had thrown Leia's mind out of her head - and then telekinetically thrown Leia herself away from her. The others all started forwards as their High Priestess flew through the air - but Leia caught herself, managing to land gracefully on her feet just before she hit the wall.

"Rey!" Poe said, looking at her aghast. "Why the hell did you do that?" 

"That wasn't me," Rey gasped, looking at her hand in shock. "That wasn't me!"

"I know," Leia assured her. 

"Then what the hell was it?" Finn demanded.

"If you have the same dream often enough, it leaves a piece of it behind in your mind," Luke said, grimly. "It's what holds the door open, and makes it easier for whoever is behind the dream magic to keep coming back. Unless we remove it, the dreams won't stop and they'll get harder to wake up from... until you're trapped completely." 

"Remove it?" Rey repeated, not knowing what that meant but not liking it at all. Luke nodded, his cold blue eyes sad but resolute. 

"A water purification ritual," he said.

"No way," Ben snapped, immediately, glaring at his uncle and his mother. "Not now. She's weak enough as it is!" 

"If anything, now's the perfect time," Luke shot back. "If we wait until Rey's regained her full strength then whatever's in her head may be able to use her power against us. It'll be more dangerous for everyone involved. Better to strike now while it still has limited resources to play with."

"You always did see people as machines rather than people," Ben sneered. Luke said nothing, looking at his nephew unwaveringly. Cassian coughed, breaking through the tension in the room. 

"Maybe we should let Rey decide," he said, pointedly. All eyes in the room turned to her. 

"Let's do it," she agreed, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. 


	15. The Purification by Water

Rey bit her lip as she looked at the bathtub full of water. None of them really took baths: there wasn't particularly time in the morning, even before there were five of them trying to get ready - one of whom being Poe - and a thin crust of yellowing limescale clung to the edges. Leia had tried to wash some of it off with the shower head, but there wasn't really time to do anything more, and the water had a slight, cloudy tinge to it.

Water was well-known among witches as a channel between one state and another, this world and the next. However, the swimming tests in the witch trials had left such an impact that for generations, drowning was a witch's worst fear, second only to being burnt alive, and it was still a running joke among the covens that witches were poor swimmers. Obviously, this was no longer the case, and Rey herself had been able to swim since she was five - but the cultural scars ran deep, and the water glittered ominously at her under the flickering bathroom light, as if beckoning her in.

"You don't have to do this," Ben murmured next to her. 

"Yes I do," she replied. The door opened and Leia entered, followed by Luke and Finn. 

"Where are Poe and Rose?" Rey asked. 

"Poe's looking after Cassian. I asked Rose to leave the apartment - emotions can run high in these rituals and it could easily overwhelm her," Leia said. She gave Rey's arm a reassuring squeeze. "You ready?"

"No," Rey responded, honestly. "But let's just get this thing out of me." She stepped into the bath. Leia had made sure that the temperature was pleasantly warm, but Rey still shivered as the water seeped into her clothes, weighing the fabric down and making it cling to her skin. 

"Here," Leia held out a slice of onion. "Keep this in your mouth."

"What, does bad breath help get rid of it?" Rey joked, half-heartedly. 

"In a way," Leia responded. "Onions have been used for a long time to repel evil. Hopefully it should speed things up a bit."

Rey accepted it and carefully sat down, causing the water level to rise and lap at the edges of the tub.

"So, what now?" she asked. 

"We need someone to hold you down," Leia said, almost apologetically. "Preferably someone you can trust."

"I'll do it," Finn volunteered, instantly. 

"No," Luke said, abruptly. "Not you." He turned to Ben. "You." Ben looked mildly alarmed, but only paused for a second before nodding stiffly. 

"If you think I'm going to put Rey's life in _Ren's_ hands..." Finn began, outraged. 

"You ever seen a purification by water, son?" Luke asked him. "It ain't pretty. You think you'll still be able to hold her down if she starts thrashing and screaming? _Without_ setting the whole damn bathroom on fire?" While his words were harsh, his tone was sympathetic, and Finn paused and looked at Rey. She nodded.

"It'll be fine," she said, trying to believe it, though Luke's words had done nothing to put her at ease, and the only the thought that there was something _living_ in her head was stopping her from leaping out the tub and bolting out the door. Leia placed a hand on Finn's shoulder and steered him to the door.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she's safe," she said, reassuringly. "I have a different job for you. Stay just outside the door and only come in when we call you." Finn shot one last look before leaving the room, the door gently clicking shut behind him. Left alone in the bathroom with three powerful witches from the same family, Rey found it harder to stifle her growing panic - or maybe it was actually the thing in her head that was panicking. 

Ben rolled up his sleeves and knelt down on the floor next to the bathtub. His face was determined, but the shadows were fully set in his eyes, cloaking Ben from view. Rey reached out and placed her hand on his. 

"For what it's worth, I do trust you," she told him. His features softened as Ben rose to the surface and he squeezed her hand back, lightly. 

_You're not alone_ , his voice echoed momentarily in her mind. 

"Whenever you're ready, Rey," Leia said, kneeling down by the bath next to her son, not caring one bit about creasing her designer suit trousers. Rey nodded and placed the onion in her mouth, her eyes watering as the taste hit the back of her throat, clogging her airways. "Take a deep breath," Leia advised. "And try to relax." The advice seemed about as easy as stopping the sun from rising, but Rey took a deep breath and, with one last glance at Ben, let herself sink below the surface. 

There wasn't enough room for her whole body to lie flat, and she felt her knees rising above the surface as she bent her legs to allow her head to rest on the ceramic bottom. The fact that a part of her body was above the water made it a little easier, even as Ben's hands came to rest on her shoulders, gently pressing down. 

She could vaguely hear Leia chanting something, and saw small ripples bloom on the surface like translucent fireworks as something was sprinkled on the water. The onion stung her eyes, and she blinked furiously, her salty tears mixing with the water around her. 

Much sooner than she had expected, she felt her chest grow tight, and she fought the urge to try and sit up - knowing that feeling Ben pushing her back would only make her panic more. But, as time ticked on and nothing seemed to happen, it got harder to resist and her body began shaking of its own accord in desperate pursuit of air. 

Then her panic turned to fury, which burned so hot that it almost seemed to boil the water around her. She fought viciously against the hands that held her, raking her nails across Ben's skin, as her body bucked furiously against the bottom of the tub. When that didn't work, she tried to use her powers to throw him off, but the water distorted her aim. 

Vaguely, she heard voices arguing above the surface, one deep and angry, the other stubborn and higher. The second voice seemed to win, as Rey felt an additional force bearing down on her entire body, not just her shoulders, telekinetically holding her still.

With nowhere to go and nothing to do, Rey roared, expelling her oxygen in one, long shout, the onion flying out of her mouth. Her throat, ears and nostrils burned as something spilled out of her and the water swirled black in front of her eyes...

Then, suddenly, she could breathe again. Ben ripped her out of the water, wrapping his arms around her as he bodily hauled her out of the tub. They both collapsed in a heap on the floor, Rey coughing and gasping, her lungs greedily sucking in air. 

There was a gurgling sound from behind them, and Rey turned back to see the water was now a pitch black tar, which splashed and sloshed thickly in the tub, seemingly of its own accord.

"Finn!" Leia yelled. "Get in here now!" Immediately, Finn charged through the door, just as the water drew itself up into a wave that towered up in the tub over them, like a cobra preparing to strike.

"What the fu-"

" _Fire_ , Finn!" Leia screamed. "Burn it!" Finn didn't need to be told twice, and a pillar of flames shot from each of his hands. Rey threw herself against Ben, forcing him bodily back down as the flames streaked over their heads, singeing her hair. 

The thing in the tub caught alight instantly, burning up in a matter of seconds. Then it was gone, leaving nothing behind but blackened walls and a scorched tub. 

Rey let her head feall against Ben's chest in relief, which rose and fell almost as heavily as her own. She felt a low rumble beneath her hands and realised that he was laughing. 

"I'm getting far too old for this," Leia muttered. 

**xXx**

The kettle whistled as it boiled, and Rey scrambled to grab it, wincing at the sharp noise. It was seven am now, and the sunlight filtered weakly in through the windows, bringing with it the distant sounds of people yelling and cars beeping as New Yorkers battled with each other on their way to work. Normally, Rey considered these sounds to be a particularly stress-inducing way to start the day and would jam her pillow firmly over her head in hope of postponing consciousness for another hour or so. After the night they've had though, the cacophony of commuters was as soothing as birdsong: a feature of a world where the biggest problem was getting to work on time, not demons crawling out of mirrors. 

Rey poured out eight cups of coffee, the steam carrying the strong smell directly to her nose, stinging her raw nostrils. Trying to not inhale too much, so as to avoid having her second nosebleed of the morning, she took a long gulp from her own cup. The coffee scorched her sensitive throat as she swallowed and the taste clashed jarringly with the residual mint from her toothpaste - she had brushed her teeth no less than five times that morning but still hadn't managed to scrub the oniony aftertaste from her mouth - but Rey didn't mind. These were all just further reminders of the annoyances of everyday life, as if mundane reality was welcoming her back. 

Leia was in the hallway, having a hushed conversation with someone on a beat-up Nokia that looked old enough to still run Snake. She hung up just as Rey passed with the tray of drinks and followed her into the living room. 

"Maz and Chewie found the body and cleared up the mess," she said, reaching for a cup before Rey had the chance to put the tray down properly. 

"It was definitely dead then?" Poe asked. 

"If it wasn't before, it is now," Leia replied, in a tone that didn't invite further questions, downing her coffee in one go. Satisfied with her answer, the others let out a collective breath that they hadn't realised they had been holding, and reached for their own coffee. Despite everyone in the room being either sleep deprived or hung over, or some combination of the two, no one had expressed a desire to sleep - perhaps in an attempt to try and stave off any nightmares by giving themselves more time to distance themselves from what had happened. They had picked up all the bottles and tried to collect as much pieces of popcorn off the living room floor as they could without using the vacuum. Rose, Finn, Poe and Rey had changed their clothes, and even Ben had put on a fresh shirt, but they hadn't erased the toll the night had taken on them so much as dressed it up as best they could. 

Rey took her own cup and a cup for Cassian and went to sit down next to him on the sofa. He was now sitting up, a bandage wrapped comically around his forehead, with a pillow sandwiched between his head and the hard wall behind him. He smiled in thanks as Rey handed him his coffee. If she had dared, she may have scooched closer and rested her head on his shoulder - but, despite him saving her life and sharing her last name, she still didn't feel like she knew him well enough to do that. 

"So, Rey," Leia said. "What happened tonight?" Everyone leaned forwards, keen to have the gaps in their knowledge filled - with the exception of Ben, who had already lived it through her eyes and shrank back into his chair, glowering. Rey took a deep breath and tried to recount everything as best as she could. Without the thing in her head, it felt much easier to talk about than it had been before, as if it all actually _had_ been a dream. 

However, Luke and Leia seemed far from comforted, and only grew in agitation as the story continued. 

"Goddammit," Luke cursed, once she had finished. " _Goddammit_."

"We've always feared this Luke," Leia said, her tone weary. 

"No, _we_ haven't," Luke corrected her, fiercely. "You weren't there, Leia! You didn't _see_ him die!" 

"Who's ' _him_ '?" Finn cut in, looking between the two of them. "Is it Snoke?"

"No," Rey said, quietly, as everyone turned to look at her in surprise. "The last time I saw Jyn, she talked about someone else - someone worse than Snoke."

" _Worse_ than Snoke?" Finn repeated, incredulously. 

"You saw Jyn?" Cassian asked, his eyes widening. "Where?"

"She was in the dream apartment. That's why I kept going back," Rey explained, her stomach twisting uncomfortably as she tried not to think about what Jyn's absence the night before might mean. 

"Did she anything else?" Cassian pressed, gripping his cup so tightly that his knuckles went white. 

"She told me to find you," Rey said, a faint grin spreading across her face. "She said that you would explain everything."

"She did, huh?" Cassian asked, shaking his head in fond exasperation. "Well," he shifted a little, trying to sit up straighter. "In that case..."

"Hey, Bike Boy, that story isn't yours to tell," Luke growled at him. Cassian sighed and levelled an impassive look at him, clearly this was an argument that they'd had multiple times before. 

"You tell it then," he challenged. Luke's beard twitched as he ground his teeth together, but he made no sign of starting to talk. 

"I'll tell it," Leia said, eventually. 

"What?" Luke rounded on her, his mouth dropping open in shock. "You can't be serious?"

"You think I'd joke about something like this?" Leia shot back. They glared at each other, Luke rolling his staff in his hand, and for a moment, Rey wondered which of them would win if they actually did use magic on each other - or even if any of them would survive such a fight to find out. But then Luke ripped himself away, throwing himself down onto the remains of Rey's cushion pile, with a dark expression on his face that made him look remarkably like his nephew. Leia rolled her eyes at his petulance and turned to the others. 

"You all know about the Dark Father. But, what you probably _don't_ know is that there was another witch - one even darker than him. The one who corrupted the Dark Father in the first place. A necromancer named Sheev Palpatine." It was comfortably warm in the room, but Leia's words sent a wave of shivers rolling down Rey's spine. She didn't know who Palpatine was, but all witches had heard stories of the necromancers. While most witches' magic came from the natural world, necromancy focused on making that which was most natural unnatural: bringing the dead back to life. For that reason, they were shunned by the covens and very few witches actually encountered a necromancer in real life - to the point that they were mostly just considered to be stories, designed to keep young witches from overstepping their powers. 

Yet here Leia was asking them to believe that a necromancer was responsible for the darkest period in witching history since the trials. 

"You're telling us that a _necromancer_ was controlling the Dark Father?" Finn asked, voicing their collective disbelief. "A legit necromancer? How come we'd never about this before?"

"Well, when the Dark Father was defeated, we all thought that he had destroyed Palpatine along with him -"

"Thought _nothing_ ," Luke snarled, hitting his staff against the floor. 

"- but Palpatine used magic in ways that most witches couldn't even _begin_ to imagine," Leia continued over her brother, raising her voice, slightly. "We decided that he needed to be erased from our history completely, so he wouldn't be able to poison the next generation from beyond the grave. So we left him out of the stories, destroyed all of his charms and poppets and potions that we could find, and dealt with our nightmares in private. Still, some of us have never been convinced that he was gone," she looked at Cassian, an almost apologetic expression on her face. 

"And you think Palpatine's back?" Rose asked.

"In addition to necromancy, Palpatine was extremely skilled in dream magic," Leia said, heavily. "There were many witches in the times of the Dark Father who would suddenly sleep walk to their deaths or just never wake up at all. We think it's how he managed to corrupt the Dark Father in the first place." 

"Sure, but it's not like other witches can't do dream magic," Poe pointed out. 

"There's another thing," Leia said, grimly. "Palpatine used to have familiars. Oh it gets worse," she assured them, as a collective shudder ran around the room. Taking a familiar had been fairly common among medieval witches, but modern witches considered the practice of taking an animal and forcing it to do your bidding while slowly draining its life force cruel and inhumane, and the vast majority of covens expressly forbade it. "He liked to _make_ his familiars."

"Make?" Rey asked, warily. "What does that mean?"

"You ever read Frankenstein?" Luke asked, cracking a smile that had absolutely no pleasantness to it at all. "Palpatine used to find dead things, take them apart, fill them with rage and hate, and stitch them back together before resurrecting them - his own demonic creations." 

"Demons don't exist," Finn said, though his words lacked conviction. 

"Neither does the Devil," Luke nodded. "But Palpatine and his minions were pretty close to it." 

"That thing in Takodana," Cassian said. "I haven't seen anything like it since the Dark Father." 

"That's what Maz said," Leia agreed. She sighed, running her hands through her hair, dislodging some of it from her intricate up-do. "We've always heard whispers," she admitted. "Witches disappearing in the night... but I never actually believed... or maybe I just didn't want to believe." 

"Using death to stop a necromancer is like trying to use a tree to stop a forest fire," Cassian said. "It was only a matter of time."

"But if Palpatine is behind this, why take Jyn? Why go after Rey?" Finn asked. 

"We don't know," Leia said. Rey felt Cassian shift uneasily next to her and glanced at him, questioningly. He kept his eyes fixed on Leia, but gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head, signalling that now was not the time. 

"Well, if Palpatine _is_ back - and I'm not saying that he is - but he can't be doing it alone," Luke said. It was a neutral statement, but Rey picked up on the insinuation behind his words. Evidently, Cassian did too. 

"Are you seriously suggesting that _Jyn_ is helping Palpatine?" he demanded, spitting the words out as if he was disgusted to even be saying them. 

"She did suddenly turn up in Rey's dreams after going missing for five years," Luke pointed out, though even he seemed to be a little ashamed of what he was suggesting. "Rey said it herself, Jyn is the reason the dream magic had such a hold on her. At this point, Jyn is just as much a suspect as anyone else."

"Jyn _saved_ me," Rey said, outraged. She felt the anger rising in her again, but this time it was all her own. 

"There's no way Jyn is working with Palpatine," Cassian snapped. 

"Well then who else?" Luke demanded. 

"Snoke," Poe said, suddenly. "No, I _get_ that Snoke isn't capable of half this shit," he added, as Leia opened her mouth. "But that doesn't mean he's not involved. Think about it. Andrew Snoke was a nobody - yet in ten years he manages to grow a coven as strong as the First Order from nothing? Doesn't that seem a little unlikely?"

"It's a very nice theory," Leia conceded, nodding thoughtfully. "But this means nothing without substantial proof." 

"Well let's get proof!" Rey said. "Let's go after Snoke."

"It's not as simple as that..." Leia began, uneasily. 

"Why not? If Snoke is the link keeping Palpatine to this world, then let's get rid of him!" Rey insisted. 

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Luke sneered, dismissively. 

"And you do?" Rey shot back. "Palpatine was in _my_ head. He's got _my_ mother. And so far you've done fuck all to help!" Her powers still hadn't fully recovered, but her rage was giving her strength and her fingers flexed of their own accord as the power accumulated in them. She expected Luke to shout back or bang his stick on the floor - a part of her _wanted_ him to, eager for a chance to throw the stubborn old man through the window. But Luke just shifted uncomfortably and turned to Leia, who stared pointedly in the opposite direction, as if determined to not be drawn into whatever telepathic conversation he was trying to have with her.

Rey felt Ben prodding at her mind, trying to get her attention. He was leaning forwards in his chair now, fully engaged in what was happening, looking at her with expression that was half-surprise and half-admiration. She sent him an irritated question, wanting to know what he wanted. The message he sent back made her forget her outrage, draining the fight from her instantly and leaving her numb.

"The Dark Father... is actually your father?" she asked Luke and Leia, hesitantly, feeling a little stupid for even voicing the question. The identical expressions of alarm on Luke and Leia's faces however told her that Ben had not been lying. "Oh my god."

"How did you -" Leia stopped and turned to her son, who stretched back casually in the chair and met her gaze, defiantly. "Ben!" 

"What?" Finn asked, stunned. "Nahh, come on, there's no way." Rose stretched her hand out to Leia.

"It's the truth," she confirmed, her voice reflecting the surprise in her eyes. "Holy shit. It's the truth. I can't feel a lie."

"Fuck me!" Poe declared, kicking out at the sofa in irritation. 

"Oh come on, you're really gonna act like you didn't know?" Finn sneered. "Isn't this just another coven secret?"

"If it is, then it's a secret even from me!" Poe retorted. 

"It's a secret from everyone," Leia snapped. "No one outside the Inner Circle knows."

"I can see why!" Poe said. "Christ Leia, this changes everything!"

"It changes _nothing_!" Leia barked, her nostrils flaring with fury. "It's an unfortunate circumstance of birth. Nothing more. Being the Dark Father's child has caused me nothing but pain. It didn't stop him from attacking my house or killing my parents, and it didn't stop me from fighting to bring him down for _ten years_. And it sure as hell doesn't stop me from leading my coven now. "

"Are you sure about that?" Poe scoffed. "A dark father... and a dark son. Seems like darkness just runs in your family."

Leia slapped Poe heavily across the face with a loud crack that seemed to suck all other noise out the room, leaving only a shocked silence. Rey blinked rapidly, unsure of what she had just seen. She had never known Leia to lose her cool before, let alone lash out against one of her own congregants. It seemed to run counter to everything she thought about her - as if there were now two Leias that Rey was struggling to reconcile into one. 

But Leia didn't seem at all contrite and faced Poe down, jutting her chin out, daring him to retaliate. Poe raised a hand to touch the red hand print slowly blooming on his cheek, as if he also was having a hard time believing what happened. But he soon dropped the hand, his expression dropping with it. 

"Rey's right - we should go after Snoke," he said, flatly. 

"I agree," Finn said. 

"Me too," Rose nodded. 

"This is not a democracy," Luke said, bluntly. "Your votes mean nothing. Besides, it's not easy."

"Sure it is!" Poe argued, his eyes flashing with determination. "You start an attack, you follow it through." 

"Poe, get your head out your cauldron!" Leia said, exasperatedly. "There are things you cannot solve by jumping on your broomstick and blowing something up! I need you to learn that." Poe said nothing but the defiance on his face was a clear enough message in itself. Leia sighed and turned to the others. "I have a budget meeting in thirty minutes. I suggest you all take the day off and rest up. We'll talk about this more when we have cooler heads on our shoulders." At her words, Luke hauled himself to his feet and stomped noisily from the room, grumbling under his breath, and taking care to knock into Poe's shoulder as he passed.

"The ones who took down the Dark Father were heroes," Poe called after them, making Leia pause in the doorway. 

"I don't disagree," Leia said, coolly. "But I need leaders - not dead heroes." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! The water purification ritual was inspired almost entirely by [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM8PU-mTSaI).
> 
> (And if you're interested, this is where [inspiration for the onion](https://www.medievalists.net/2014/12/oldest-onion-denmark/) came from! :) )


	16. The Knocking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been a hot minute - sorry about that! Have an extra long chapter to make up for it! :)

Rey's headache started seconds after Luke and Leia had left, pounding down on her skull like a drum, her vision pulsing in time with the beat. She stumbled out of the room, swatting away concerned hands and wobbling unsteadily on her feet as the floor swayed violently beneath her. She made it to her bed and sank into the pillows, not bothering to get under the covers before she closed her eyes and let reality slip away. 

When she opened her eyes again, the headache was gone. Rose's bed next to hers was empty, and daylight and the sounds of the city seeped in through the crack in their curtains. There was no clock in their room and no phone within reach, so she had no idea how long she had been asleep for. If it hadn't been for her vanished headache, Rey would have questioned whether she had slept at all. 

Tentatively, she sat up. The dream magic had grown so slowly that she hadn't noticed how much it had been affecting her. It was as if her head had been stuffed with cotton wool, smothering her senses, and now that it was gone, everything felt clearer and more in focus. Slowly, she eased herself to her feet; she even felt like she was _standing_ taller. It took her a few steps to get used to the sensation, pitching from side to side like a baby giraffe finding its feet. But she made it to the door and stuck her head out. 

The hallway was dark and all the doors were closed - yet the corridor still vibrated with life, filled with the slightly muffled but unmistakable tune of _Wannabe_ by the Spice Girls. Bemused, Rey followed the music to the kitchen, where she found Rose and Finn dancing around and making pancakes, blissfully unaware of their unexpected audience. 

"Nice moves!" Rey called out to them, raising her voice to be heard over Scary Spice's triumphant declaration of "ziga-ziga!". Finn whirled around, but his snarky retort died on his lips when he saw it was her, his mouth morphing seamlessly into a wide grin.

"Peanut!" he greeted her, reaching out to pull her into a hug and only narrowly avoiding hitting her with the spatula he was clutching in his other hand. "How are you doing?"

"Good," Rey replied, happily. She sniffed the air. "Is something burning?"

"Finn!" The pancakes!" Rose yelped. Swearing, Finn abruptly released Rey and returned to the stove to flip the pancakes, which had luckily only just started to blacken underneath. Rose rolled her eyes and elbowed past him to hug Rey too. 

"You feel so much better," she said, her relief seeping into Rey's skin. "I was super worried yesterday - your headache gave _me_ a headache!" 

"Wait - _yesterday_?" Rey repeated, pulling back and looking at Rose's face to see if she was joking or not. "How long was I asleep for?" 

"Not sure - maybe a day?" Finn pulled out his phone from the apron pocket to check. "Yeah, almost twenty-six hours exactly." Rey's jaw dropped. 

"I slept a whole _day_?" she demanded, unsure whether she really believed herself capable of having done that; Rey had never slept through a whole day before in her life.

"Yup," Rose nodded, unconcerned. "Clearly you needed it though." 

"Yeah, don't worry, you didn't miss anything," Finn added. "It was a pretty boring day - thank god."

"Huh," Rey said, still trying to process her lost day. "Well, I guess I should just be thankful I didn't sleep through this 90s revival you guys are having," she said, eventually, as the music promptly switched from Spice Girls to Blink-182.

"Yeah, well not that we should need an excuse to blast 90s music, but it's actually to cover up the knocking," Finn told her. "It's been going on non-stop since midnight last night." Rey frowned.

"The knocking?" she asked. In response, Rose muted the speakers. For a moment, the only sound was that of the pancakes sizzling in the pan. And then Rey heard it: a series of light taps, as someone knocked gently but persistently on the front door. Automatically, Rey moved to get up and see who it was, but Rose stepped in front of her, stopping her. 

"There's no one there," she said, seriously. "We've looked through the peephole several times already."

"You didn't open it to check?" Rey asked. Rose huffed, her long fringe puffing upwards momentarily. 

"It's All Souls' Day, Rey," she said, pointedly. "So, no. We didn't open the door." Rey's mouth went dry, as the soft raps quickly took on a threatening undertone. 

"But we've never had this problem before," she said. "I thought this place was hidden from..." She struggled to find the right word. "... everyone?"

"Dunno," Finn shrugged. "Maybe Leia's magic doesn't extend beyond the grave. Maybe they're just lost and stumbled on this place by accident. Either way," he reached over and resumed the music. "90s revival it is!" 

With the knocks once again drowned out by the sound of TLC insisting that they didn't want any scrubs, the atmosphere in the room instantly lifted and Rey found herself nodding. 

"Sounds fair," she agreed. 

"Besides, whatever it is, it can't be scarier than being trapped in an apartment with Poe," Rose muttered. For a second, Rey's mind was blank, the memory of the splitting headache acting as a temporary roadblock in her brain.

"Ah!" she said, suddenly remembering. "Is he still upset about Leia slapping him?" Rose snorted. 

"Upset is putting it mildly," she said, darkly. "He was in a fucking awful mood the whole day - I was almost relieved when he went to bed early and I could finally get some peace." Rey cast a sideways look at Finn, expecting him to jump to Poe's defence. But to her surprise, he nodded in agreement. 

"Don't get me wrong, I still can't believe that Leia _actually_ hit him," he said, scooping the pancakes onto plates. "But I mean, we were on his side! He didn't need to take it out on us." He carelessly slopped another helping of batter into the pan, glaring at it as if Poe's face was staring out of the bubbling liquid at him. 

"By the way, Rey!" Rose said, suddenly. "Cassian... he's not..." She paused. "He's not... _your dad_ , is he?" 

"I don't think so," Rey shook her head. "But there has to be more to him than just knowing Jyn if she gave me his last name." 

"Well in that case, I hope it's not too weird to say that he's a total DILF," Finn said, casually. 

"Agreed, the man is hot stuff," Rose nodded. 

"Ehh, it's _a little_ weird..." Rey began, but her objection was swiftly ignored.

"Look, all I'm saying is that if he _is_ your dad, those are some good genes you've inherited, that's all!" Rose said, unrepentantly. She grabbed two plates of pancakes and held them out to Rey. "Here, I'm guessing you both have a lot to talk about." The buttery smell gently wafted into Rey's nose and her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that she technically hadn't eaten in over twenty-four hours.

"Thanks," she said, accepting the plates gratefully.

"And can you ask him if he's seeing anyone?" Finn called jokingly after her. Rey didn't reply, but a meaningful look at the wet dishcloth in the sink caused it to leap into the air and land with a wet plop on Finn's head. She left quickly before he could retaliate and headed to the living room. With both her hands full, she kicked the door lightly a couple of times with the side of her foot and used her telekinesis to push it open when Cassian answered. 

"Hey," she said. "I come bearing breakfast."

"Perfect," Cassian beamed, sitting up on the sofa to make space for her. Rey sat down next to him and passed him a plate. He looked a little tired, but definitely better than when she had seen him last; the ridiculous bandage around his head had been replaced with a much more modest band-aid and he had swapped his blood-stained t-shirt for a clean one that she recognised as belonging to Poe. 

"I hope Finn and Rose took good care of you?" she asked. 

"They were great," Cassian nodded. "They were worried about you, of course. As we all were. How are you feeling? Did you have a good rest?" His expression was earnest, as if he really cared about the answer. 

"I'm a lot better than I would be if you hadn't saved me from that mirror demon," Rey said. "Thank you," she paused. "By the way - how _did_ you know I needed saving?" 

"Yes, you probably have a lot of questions," Cassian said. "But perhaps these are better answered after we've eaten?" Rey readily agreed, her desire for food swiftly overtaking her desire for answers, and she promptly tucked in. She wasn't sure if it was because she hadn't eaten in over a day or because the dream magic had also been muting her sense of taste, but the pancakes tasted better than she could remember them ever having tasted before, even with the added crunch from the slightly burnt parts. She forced herself to slow down and chew each bite properly, resisting the urge to wolf it all down as quickly as possible. However, as fixated as she was on her meal, she became acutely aware that Cassian wasn't touching her plate and was instead just watching her. 

"Sorry for being a pig," she said, once she had finished, a little self conscious. 

"No, it's not that - it's just the last time I saw you properly, you were five. You've grown up so well, _mija_ ," Cassian replied. Rey wasn't sure how to respond to the pure pride that wrapped around each of his words, so she picked at the hem of her t-shirt, avoiding his gaze. 

"Cassian," she began, carefully. "You're not... you're not my dad, are you? It's just that Jyn's the closest thing I have to a mother," she added, hurriedly, as he froze in surprise, caught off-guard. "And she's the only one who treats me like you do, and I don't know why you would if you weren't..." she trailed off, unsure if she was making things better or worse. For a moment, Cassian didn't respond. Then he cleared his throat and set his untouched plate down carefully on the floor.

"I'm not your dad," he said, his voice strained. "But I wanted to be." He reached for his wallet, arranged neatly on the coffee table next to a set of keys, and pulled out a small, neatly folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, taking the time to carefully smooth out the creases. It looked blank - but then, he raised it to his mouth and gently breathed on it. Immediately, colours and lines bloomed on the surface, as if spilling out of his mouth, chasing and interweaving with each other to form a picture. Once it was finished, Cassian passed the paper to Rey, who was taken aback to see her four-year-old self staring off the paper at her, her mouth wide open mid-laughter. Holding her up on either side were Cassian and Jyn: younger, with less grey hair and wrinkles, but still unrecognisably themselves. Cassian was pulling a stupid face, which seemed to be the source of Rey's amusement, while Jyn was looking at the two of them with an expression of affectionate exasperation. 

Around them were three men that she didn't recognise. Next to Jyn was a man of medium build with tawny skin, hollow cheek bones and a narrow nose. He had a dark beard and long dark hair to match, pulled into a pony tail behind a pair of welding goggles that he appeared to be using as a headband, even though they were comically too large for him. One of his arms was slung around Jyn's shoulders and his dark eyes sparkled as he grinned at the camera, revealing a set of neat, white teeth. Rey found herself smiling as she looked at him; he was undeniably handsome.

On the other side of Cassian stood a Chinese man who towered at least a head and shoulders above the rest of them. He looked like the toughest one out of all of them by far, dressed in motorcycle leathers with a machete strapped visibly around his waist. His hair framed his face in straggly curtains, while his goatee in contrast was extremely neat, streaks of grey threading through both like silver rivers. He was the only one not smiling, but his eyes radiated kindness and Rey could tell that he wasn't as mean as he looked. 

His arms were around another, smaller and slender Chinese man standing next to Cassian. One of his hands was resting on the bigger man's interlocked arms around him, while the other was clutching a staff that was very much like Luke's. He was clean shaven, had cropped hair, and wore flowing clothes that made his narrow frame look smaller than it probably was. Overall, his appearance reminded Rey of a monk - though no monk she had ever seen had had eyes like his: two white orbs, emptiness filling the place where his irises and pupils should have been. Despite this, he stared into the camera almost defiantly, his thin lips smirking knowingly at her.

Rey's throat constricted; _they looked happy_. 

"I hope this isn't too overwhelming for you," Cassian said, anxiously. 

"No, it's okay," Rey shook her head, trying to dislodge any thoughts of an alternate life where she had been raised by two loving parents as part of a coven instead of ending up abandoned and alone that were threatening to take root. She took a grounding breath. "So, why weren't you? My dad, I mean?"

"After the Dark Father was defeated, things went back to normal pretty quickly. Covens started rebuilding, witches came out of hiding... people started healing. But a few of us," Cassian tapped the photo. "We were never truly convinced that Palpatine was gone. A lot of witches thought that we had just forgotten what it was like to live a normal life. Others thought we were paranoid," he chuckled, darkly. "Perhaps they were right. In any case, we travelled around, trying to track down any hints of dark magic, just in case it was Palpatine trying to come back." 

"How did you track that?" Rey asked, genuinely curious. Magic was generally a neutral force - it was the witch who wielded it that made it dark or light. Cassian cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck.

"We had a few ways," he said, vaguely. "Mainly traditional methods... tea leaves and such... Jyn's power definitely came in handy too. Anyway, one day, we ended up in this small town in the Nevada desert. Jakku. Population of a few hundred, and most people commuted into Las Vegas for work so there really wasn't much there - just houses, a school, a church, a shop... that sort of thing. To be honest, we weren't really sure why we were there. The locals weren't exactly _welcoming_ , but there was no sign that they were doing any dark magic. But everything was definitely pointing at Jakku and our methods weren't normally so clear. Then, after about a week, I found you."

" _You_ found me?" Rey repeated, in surprise. 

"Curled up in an old truck trying to hide from a sandstorm," Cassian nodded. "You were only about four years old but still so tiny, and you clearly had been on your own for a few days. It took four candy bars to get you to come out. At first, I figured I should call the police or social services or something... but then you took a fifth candy bar from my bag just by looking at it... and I just knew you must be the reason we were in Jakku. So I took you back to the others and you were ours. Jyn did try and look for your parents - just in case - but she couldn't find anything." 

Rey rested her head on the back of the sofa, allowing the weight of the information to fully sink in. Jyn could find anyone, anywhere. If she couldn't, it usually meant one thing. Rey had so desperately wanted to be Jyn's that she had never really given much thought to her birth parents. In the back of her mind, she supposed she had always assumed that they were out there somewhere, living their own lives. Finding out that they definitely weren't took a moment to process. 

She looked back at the picture, at the only parent she had ever known, looking more carefree than Rey could ever remember seeing her. Her fingers traced over Jyn softly, the past image almost irreconcilable with the broken and exhausted woman Rey had met in the dream apartment. She passed the paper back, unable to look at it anymore.

"You and Jyn," she said. "Were the two of you... I mean?" She fumbled the words, but Cassian knew what she was asking and grinned, roguishly. 

"She's my wife," he said. Rey's mouth fell open. 

"Your _wife_? Why did she never tell me?" 

"Probably because of what happened next," Cassian's grin dropped instantly, and he almost gabbled the next few sentences, as if the quicker he got the words out, the less they would hurt. "We had just celebrated your birthday," he said, his words becoming thick and mumbled as the corners of his mouth began to wobble uncontrollably. "I went out to get you a cake, and when I got back, everyone was dead. Burned. They said it was an accident - but it wasn't. For a moment, I thought you were dead too, but then I noticed that neither you nor Jyn were among the bodies. She had grabbed you and run," he broke off, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to bring his emotions under control. 

Almost on instinct, Rey reached forwards and wrapped her arms around him. The way they were sitting on the sofa made the hug a little awkward, and Rey was vaguely aware of her empty plate and cutlery balancing precariously on the cushions between them. Still, she tried to make her hold as firm and reassuring as possible, and Cassian accepted the gesture gratefully. Clearly, she wasn't the only one who felt that she had been abandoned.

"Why didn't Jyn leave you a message?" Rey asked, once he had pulled back.

"It was too risky," Cassian said, his eyes shining with unspilled tears. "Any message she left could have been intercepted and we had no idea who attacked us. We had to assume the worst had happened and that Palpatine was back. Of course, I never stopped looking for you, but I was always one step behind. Every time I picked up your trail, it would always go cold. Then I heard news through the covens that Jyn had disappeared completely - but there was nothing about you. If I had known the Organa Coven was hiding you, I would have approached Leia... we're old friends... but it makes sense that I didn't. Leia doesn't fuck around when it comes to the safety of her confirmants." 

"So, how did you find me?" Rey pressed. Despite his sadness, the corners of Cassian's mouth quirked, slightly. 

"It's going to sound strange, but I had a dream. There was a woman - I don't remember much about her other than she had brown hair, a white dress and a big belly, like she was pregnant. She told me to find a place called Takodana. So I did... and there you were," he smiled fully this time, the look of pride returning to his face.

"I wish you'd told me who you were," Rey told him, softly. 

"I was afraid," he admitted. "I didn't know if Jyn had told you anything about me - and you know, even if she had, why should you care? Just because I felt like you were my daughter doesn't mean that you should feel like I was your father... especially when I hadn't had the chance to _be_ much of a father," he reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "You have so much of Jyn in you. But you're also you're own person... You're everything I hoped you would be. It was so hard to leave you again - so I stuck around, just in case." 

"How come I never saw you?" Rey asked. Cassian's cheeks took on a distinctly pink tinge. 

"Ahh," he said, awkwardly. "Well that's kind of my power." He leant back away from her and was gone, as if he had been swallowed up by the sofa. Rey blinked; she knew he was still there, but every time she thought she could see a part of him, her eyes would slide away, unable to focus on him. Then, just as suddenly, he was back again, the fabric of reality seeming to part to let him through. 

"You're... a chameleon?" Rey said, testing the word a little sceptically. Cassian let out a bark of laughter. 

"That's one way of putting it," he said. "Don't worry, I never intruded. I knew you were safe wherever Leia was keeping you, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Then on Halloween, one of my... tools picked up on some dark magic in Takodana. I raced over - and... well," he shrugged. "You know what happened next."

"I'm glad you did," Rey told him, shuddering as the click of the mirror demon's claws on the floor echoed momentarily in her head. "Even if the whole chameleon thing is a _tiny_ bit creepy." 

"I know," Cassian agreed, a little meekly. "I'm sorry." 

"It's okay. If anything, I should be the one apologising - I kept you from your wife for fifteen years," Rey said. She was half-joking, but Cassian's response was completely sincere. 

"Rey, you have _nothing_ to apologise for. The second we brought you home, you became the most important thing to us... to _all_ of us. I don't regret it for one second," he told her. "But I do regret how it played out. You were supposed to have a normal life... as normal as a witch's life can be, anyway." 

"I have a normal life now," Rey said. "Well, I mean, recently it's all been a bit fucked... but aside from that, it's pretty normal. I have friends and a job and an apartment..." she paused, considering her next words. "And I wouldn't have any of that if it weren't for you. So I think you did a pretty good job at being my dad." Her tongue felt far too clumsy to express such a delicate sentiment, and she hugged herself tightly, her fingers digging into the soft flesh of her upper arms, steeling herself for the subsequent awkwardness.

Cassian beamed at her, his eyes once again glittering with tears. 

"Glad to hear it," he said, thickly. Relief broke over Rey so powerfully that it made her physically sigh, the tension fleeing from her shoulders. For a few moments, the two grinned, goofily at each other, overjoyed beyond words to finally be reunited. In those moments, Rey made a decision.

"There's something I need to tell you," she said. Cassian raised an eyebrow.

"If it's about how Kylo Ren is Leia's son and you've been keeping him magically imprisoned here with you for the past few week, then you're a little late," he said, dryly. "Rose and Finn already told me."

"No, it's not that," Rey said, waving her hand, dismissively. "For a while, Luke was training me. But the last time he did, he said that he had only seen my power before in Ben and that it scared him. That I went straight to the dark." Cassian frowned.

"What? Oh Rey. Listen, Luke's an excellent witch - but he's been through a lot. I would take everything he says with a pinch of salt," he assured her.

"But you said it yourself, that you were looking for dark magic in Jakku and you found me," Rey pointed out. "What if it's _in_ me? And I just don't know it yet. Like the dream magic?" 

" _Mija_ , I don't know why the magic led us to Jakku - it's not a precise science. But people aren't born fully good or evil," Cassian said, gently. "And even if they were - I promise you that I know what darkness looks like... and you're not it. Okay?" He sounded confident enough for the two of them, but Rey still felt uncertainty gnawing at her. Yet before she could reply, the music drifting down the hall to them from the kitchen was abruptly cut off, only to be replaced by raised, angry voices. Immediately, Rey stood up. 

"I better see what's going on," she said. "Remember to eat your pancakes before they get too cold." For a moment, Cassian looked like he was going to ignore her and march into the hallway himself. Then he glanced at the waiting pancakes and licked his lips. 

"Okay, _jefe_ ," he agreed, reaching down to pick up his plate. Rey smiled, satisfied and left, shutting the door firmly behind her. 

Poe and Finn were facing off against each other at the other end of the hallway. Rose hovered anxiously near them, shifting her weight from foot to foot, the tension radiating from the two men making her jittery.

"What's your problem, man?" Finn was demanding. He was still holding the spatula, which was beginning to droop as the plastic handle melted in his grip, and Rey noticed the air got noticeably hotter the closer she got to them.

"My problem is that you're blasting music loud enough to wake the dead!" Poe shot back, stubbornly holding his ground despite the beads of sweat that were breaking out on his forehead. He might have gone to bed early, but he clearly hadn't slept well; his black hair stood up at all angles from head and his skin had taken on a sallow tone that only emphasised the dark bags under his eyes and the outline of a red hand print lingering on his cheek. 

Finn scoffed and opened his mouth, presumably to tell Poe that he didn't know how right he was, when several light raps sounded on the door between them. 

"And _who_ in the ever-loving name of _fuck_ keeps knowing on the goddamn door?" Poe raged, reaching out towards the door handle. 

"No!" Rose yelled, bodily shoving him out of the way, as she threw herself against the door. Poe stumbled, caught by surprise, and only just managed to stop himself from falling. 

"Rose? What the hell?" he demanded. 

"It's All Souls' Day," Rose told him, fiercely. To his credit, Poe caught on immediately. Slowly, his eyes trailed from her face to the door behind her. 

"And you think..."

"I don't _think_ ," Rose snapped. "I feel..." she broke off, the emotions of whatever was on the other side of the door flowing through the wood and into her. Her face slowly drained of colour, and her finger nails scraped uncomfortably against the door as he hands slowly closed into fists. Rey stepped forward. 

"What do you feel Rose?" she prompted. Rose looked at her, her eyes full of dread.

"Empty," she replied, hollowly. A loud bang made everyone jump, Rose leaping away from the door and onto Finn as something pounded heavily on the other side, any pretence of polite knocking gone. 

None of them went near the door for the rest of the day. 

**xXx**

The knocking continued well into the night, alternating between a series of gentle, coaxing taps and heavy, enraged thumps, until it finally fell silent at midnight. The relief in the apartment was palpable - yet no one felt able to relax quite yet. 

"After all," Finn said, as he poured a generous line of salt across the bottom of the door. "It's still All Souls' Day _somewhere_ in the world." 

At its core, magic was a form of controlled chaos, a way of trying to find order in something that most people, even witches, couldn't begin to comprehend. This meant that while magic could be bent to follow the expectations and rules of the caster, it also thrived on technicalities and unpredictability... and no one needed to leave the flat urgently enough to risk opening the door before they had to. 

Rey lay in bed, staring at the shadows on the ceiling above her, which danced every time a solitary car drove down the empty street outside. In her mind, however, she was staring at Cassian's picture. The fact that there had been people who had been ready to take her in and become her family was bittersweet; on one hand, it was everything that she had ever wanted. On the other, if they had raised her, she might not have met Finn, Rose or Poe... and _they_ were her family now. 

Then there was the question of what had happened in Jakku. While Jyn had said that Cassian would explain everything, Rey felt that his story had just exchanged old questions for new ones. Why had she been alone in a wrecked truck in a town in the middle of nowhere? Why had their methods of tracking dark magic - whatever those were - led them directly to her? Cassian had seemed confident that she didn't need to worry, and while Rey found his certainty reassuring, she wasn't quite as convinced herself.

She rolled over, staring at the wall that separated her room from Ben's. She contemplated reaching out to him through their bond, but she suddenly felt extremely self-conscious. She no longer needed their connection to stop her dreams, which meant that she would be reaching out because she wanted to, maybe even missed him... and Rey absolutely did not have the will nor the energy to confront those feelings right now. Besides, she hadn't seen him all day, and assumed that he must still be upset from Leia's visit. If that was the case, he probably didn't want to be disturbed, and Rey certainly wasn't going to make him deal with the whirlwind of thoughts spinning around her head in addition to his own internal struggle.

Rose snored lightly in the bed next to her, having been clearly exhausted by all the strong emotions that had borne down on her throughout the day. It was a blatant reminder of just how awake Rey was, and she kicked her covers off in annoyance. There was no use just lying in bed if she wasn't sleeping. Carefully, she picked her way across their dark bedroom to the door and stepped into the hallway - only to immediately trip over a pair of long legs stretched out on the floor, the dark jeans blending seamlessly with the shadows. 

"Shit!" she yelped in surprise, only just managing to stop herself from falling. She turned to the owner of the legs, who was quickly scrambling to their feet. "Ben?" she asked in surprise. "What are you doing?" 

"Nothing... nothing," he said, uncharacteristically flustered, his eyes darting around nervously, looking everywhere but at Rey. 

"Right," Rey said. "You were just sitting on the floor in the dark... doing nothing?"

"Yes," he replied, a hint of defiance in his voice. Rey folded her arms and waited. Ben's eyes flickered to her face and noted her sceptical expression. "Fine," he muttered, sighing irritably. "I just wanted to make sure that you weren't going to disappear in your sleep again. That's all." 

Rey blinked. Of all the explanations he might have given, she could never have predicted that one. 

"Oh," she said, a little awkwardly. "But the dream stuff is gone -"

"I know, I just wanted to be sure," he snapped. Rey didn't need to be an empath to feel the defensiveness rolling off him in waves, a sea of vulnerability churning just beneath his surface. She shuffled a little, searching for a reply. 

"I'm going to make some hot chocolate," she said, eventually. "Do you want some?" Now it was Ben's turn to be startled, but he nodded and followed her into the kitchen. 

They made the drink together in silence. Ben got a fresh packet of cocoa down from the top shelf, while Rey warmed the milk through on the stove top. At some point, BB-8 joined them, lured in by the smell. He weaved himself through their legs, purring endearingly, and meowing in thanks when Rey poured some milk out for him in a small dish. 

The milk was a couple of days past its sell-by date, but it didn't smell too badly and clearly BB-8 didn't mind it, so Rey heaped an extra spoonful of sugar and a generous amount of cinnamon into the pot and hoped that it would cover any sourness.

Once the hot chocolate was done, they ladled it out into a couple of mugs and sat down together at the table, sipping slowly. BB-8 finished his milk and sat by their feet, looking at them with wide eyes. When his blatant pleas for more were ignored, he cut his losses and hopped up onto Ben's lap. Ben scratched the cat's chin absentmindedly with his free hand, not even flinching when BB-8 kneaded his claws into his legs in happiness.

Rey spoke first. 

"I didn't see you today. Everything okay?" 

"Yeah, I was just sleeping," Ben shrugged. "I was up all night."

"Oh?" Rey asked. "Why?" Ben pretended not to hear her, focusing his attentions on fussing BB-8. Rey wasn't sure where the realisation that he must have spent the whole night sat on-guard in the hallway and had been fully intent on doing the same thing tonight came from, but she immediately knew it was true the second it popped into her head. She took a few big gulps of her drink, the sickly sweetness making her teeth hurt a little. 

"How are you feeling?" Ben asked, suddenly, and Rey almost choked in her haste to respond, hot chocolate bursting out through her nostrils. Mortified, she grabbed a tissue and dabbed herself clean. Ben didn't look at all phased and just waited patiently for her reply. 

"Good," she said, eventually. She could feel her ears burn from embarrassment and was glad that her hair was down and he couldn't see. "Much better."

"Good," he nodded. 

"And you?" she asked.

"You've already asked me that," he pointed out, though his tone was patient. 

"Alright," Rey said. "I'll ask you something else instead. What do you actually do?"

"What?" He asked, less patiently, his brow furrowed in confusion. 

"I mean, beyond the whole witch thing. When you're not running around in your helmet as 'Kylo Ren, Evil Witchoverlord'?", she said, flexing her fingers in air quotes and thoroughly enjoying the resulting expression on his face, which could easily have been either irritation or bemusement. "Did you have a job or something?" 

"My last job was on Snoke's legal team," he said. Rey noticed that he spat Snoke's name out like it had a bad taste - but she didn't stop to question it.

"So you were a lawyer? That's pretty impressive," she said. "Bet you never thought you would one day be drinking hot chocolate with a mechanic at two in the morning when you were in law school, huh?"

"We can move things with our mind... and yet you find the idea of a mechanic and a lawyer socialising impossible?" Ben asked, wryly. 

"Come off it, where would we ever meet if we weren't witches?" Rey scoffed. 

"You never know, maybe my car would've needed fixing," Ben said, casually. His words were dry but there was a subtle gleam in his eye and his mouth quirked a little at the corners, just as Han's had done when he had teased her. It had taken Rey a while to get used to his deadpan delivery, but now she could recognise it anywhere. 

"I wouldn't be surprised - you big-shot corporate types always do care about appearances over function," she shot back, lightly. 

"In that case, I don't know what your problem is - sounds like us 'big-shot corporate types' are the reason you have a job," Ben replied, leaning across the table towards her.

"You would think," Rey said, mirroring his actions. "But if we didn't know each other and your car needed work done, I bet you wouldn't have given me a second thought other than to chuck your keys at me and tell me what you wanted done, regardless of whether it was the best thing for the car or even if it was possible. Do you know how stressful that is?" 

"I could never give you only one thought," he replied. Rey felt the teasing atmosphere disintegrate instantly, burnt up by something much more sincere. This was the closest their faces had been since the Halloween party. He had nice eyes. She had once thought they were dark and cold, but she had been wrong: they were warm like Leia's and sparkled with life. Almost without being aware of it, her own eyes trailed down his face, past his nose, _Han's nose_ , she realised, and landed on his lips... 

Rey jerked back, abruptly, seizing her cup and drinking frantically, keen to get rid of the feeling of the ghost of his lips on hers. Ben didn't move, watching her with that same thoughtful look that he had had when he had helped her channel her powers. 

"You shouldn't worry about going dark," he said, unexpectedly. "You have too many people who care about you for that." Rey froze, the question of how he knew that half-formed on her lips, when she felt the tell-tale tug in her mind. Evidently her thoughts were just as easy for him to read as his were for her. 

"People care about you too, you know," she replied. 

"Yeah?" Ben tilted his head to one side. "What about you? Do you care about me?" Rey shuffled in her seat under the weight of the question and was grateful for the second time that night that he couldn't see her ears go red. 

"Shut up and drink your hot chocolate," she muttered. Ben chuckled but did what as he was told, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes as he drained his cup. It was a wholly unnecessary move and Rey suspected that he was doing it to give her an opportunity to look at him without feeling self-conscious. He was slouching slightly in his chair, his long legs stretching out towards her, so close that she could probably rest her knee against his if she wanted to... if she dared.

"I never thanked you," she said, once he had put his empty cup back down. "For pulling me out the water. For keeping my dreams away. Thank you." She meant it as a genuine expression of her gratitude, but Ben almost seemed to wince at her words.

"You don't need to thank me," he said, quietly. 

"Yes, I do," Rey insisted. She paused a little before continuing. As much as she was enjoying this comfortable warmness between them, there were things she needed to say - and now seemed as good an opportunity as any. "You know, Poe didn't mean what he said. About the darkness. He was just tired and cranky." She waited for his guard to slam down, and sure enough, Ben's body tensed visibly, his grip tightening around his cup. But BB-8 purred a little louder in his lap, the soothing rhythm reverberating through the air around them, and he remained himself.

"Yeah, he did," he said, his voice tight. "And he's right." Rey frowned. 

"You don't really believe that?" she asked. 

"You mean you don't?" he retorted, smiling bitterly. 

"Believing's got nothing to do with it," Rey said, coolly. "I've been inside your head. I _know_ it's not true."

"Yeah, well at least one of us knows," Ben replied, sardonically. 

"Okay, here's something I don't know," Rey said. "Did you tell me about Luke and Leia to help me or hurt them?" Ben paused, swirling the dregs of the hot chocolate around the bottom of his cup. 

"Not sure," he admitted, eventually. "What about you? Did you mean what you said? About going after Snoke?"

"Not sure," Rey replied, and she found that she really didn't. She had said it mostly in the heat of the moment, a desperate solution plucked out of thin air to try and soothe her frustration, but had not given it much thought since. She did now. "If we did do it," she said, slowly. "If we did go after Snoke... would you help us?"

"Is this a hypothetical scenario or are you actually asking me?" Ben asked, stiffly.

"Both," Rey shrugged. For a while, he didn't reply, looking at her intently as he considered his response, barely even blinking. Rey didn't have to use their connection to feel the aftershocks from the strength of the war being waged in his head: Kylo's defensiveness over Snoke and the side he had aligned himself with versus Ben's defensiveness... over her.

"I don't know," he said, eventually. Rey nodded, trying to console herself the fact that it was at least an honest answer, even if it wasn't the one she had been hoping to hear. Still, she wasn't ready to give up yet. Gently, she prised the cup out of his vice-like grip and replaced it with her own hand. His hand was soft and smooth, and she hoped that he didn't notice just how dry and calloused her hands were as she threaded her fingers through his, trying to strengthen their mental connection with a physical one. 

"You don't have to bow before Snoke," she told him, earnestly. "You can turn. I can help you." Ben's hand remained rigid and unrelenting in hers, but he didn't pull away.

"Who says I bow before Snoke?" he asked, his voice dangerously low. 

"Come on Ben," she said, almost pleading with him. "Don't you want to be free?" She could feel Ben within him surging towards her voice, emboldened by their physical connection - but Kylo remained an impenetrable block between them. 

"Snoke's the only one who ever told me the truth," he muttered, his mouth curling into a snarl as he said the name. 

"What do you mean?" Rey asked. His lips pressed together in a thin line and Rey fully expected him to pull away completely and leave her alone in the kitchen. Then, he sighed, his fingers finally closing around her own, as if he was afraid that _she_ would be the one to pull away. 

"I always had a lot of power," he began, so quietly that Rey struggled to hear him. He kept his gaze firmly on their interlocked hands as he spoke, his thumb slowly beginning to rub small circles around the knuckle of her own thumb. "Even when I was young. I could move things, start fires... sometimes without even realising I had done it. The older I got, the more my powers grew and sometimes... people got hurt. People were afraid of me - even within the coven. They tried to hide it, but I could tell. Leia was always too busy to deal with it. Dad - _Han_ \- tried to help but he wasn't a witch so he didn't really understand." 

"That must have been hard," Rey said, sympathetically. Ben shrugged. 

"After a while, I got used to being alone," he said. "It was easier than having to deal with the fear in people's eyes when they saw me. Then, when I was fifteen, a voice started to talk to me in my sleep. It told me things about my grandfather, my family line. That I was destined to finish what he had started and unite the covens into one empire. But that I had too much of my father's heart in me and that I needed to cut it out."

"Snoke," Rey said, and Ben nodded. 

"At first, I ignored it. Then I thought I was losing my mind. But then I found out - it was true. The Dark Father was my grandfather. You guys reacted a lot better than I did. I was angry. Really angry. At everyone - Leia, Han... the world. I don't know what would've happened if Luke hadn't shown up. He took me away - told me that he could teach me to control my powers. I thought all my problems were solved," he said, bitterly. "But... he sensed my power. Just as he senses yours. And he feared it."

Their connection flared a little and an unfamiliar memory unfurled in Rey's mind. Not one of her memories, she realised, one of Ben's. She opened his eyes blearily as she groggily emerged from a deep sleep, yawning and turning over in his bed - only to be met by the sight of Luke standing over her. He was breathing heavily with a crazed look in his eye, his face so contorted that it was barely recognisable. A flash of light caught her attention, and alarm flooded through her as she realised he was holding a vicious blade in the air, poised to bring it down directly on her chest. Rey felt Ben thrust his arm out, throwing Luke as far away from himself as possible... 

... and then she was back in the kitchen, panting heavily, adrenaline still coursing through her. Ben was still holding tightly onto her hand, apparently paying no mind to that it had become slippery with sweat. He smiled at her, sadly. 

"Snoke was right," he said. "Just like Luke and Poe were right. I can't deny my heritage. Darkness is a part of me." Rey felt sick, her head spinning from her staggered breaths. She closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down, massaging her forehead with her free hand. Ben gave her other hand a reassuring squeeze, and the fact that he was comforting her seemed entirely ridiculous to Rey. She had only witnessed Luke's betrayal, he had experienced it first hand. She trampled her feelings down, forcing herself back to the conversation. 

"You said Snoke was the only one who ever told you the truth," she said, quietly. "But what about me? Haven't I always told you the truth?"

"I guess," Ben conceeded, cautiously.

"So, will you believe me when I say I _know_ there's good in you?" she asked. 

"I believe that you believe it," he said, softly. Rey deflated. Her disappointment must have been evident on her face as Ben's cheeks pinkened and he abruptly let go of her hand. "You must be tired," he said, gruffly. "You should go sleep." For a moment, Rey didn't move, her hand lying empty on the table, her skin suddenly chilly without his warmth. Slowly, she withdrew it.

"But what about...?" she began., gesturing at the cups.

"I'll clean up," he said, brusquely. "Really, you should go." Rey bit her lip, sensing that the conversation was over but unwilling to leave on such a sour note. "It's fine," he added, more gently. "Really." Reluctantly, Rey got up.

"Okay," she said. Ben didn't move as she walked to the doorway, still fussing BB-8, deep in thought. With one foot in the hallway, Rey paused. "By the way," she said. He turned to look at her. "I _do_ care about you," she gabbled, before near throwing herself out the room and hurtling down the hallway to her room. 

_I care about you too_ , his voice echoed in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're all staying safe!


End file.
